A Blue and Yellow Summer (Revised and Complete)
by keigee2
Summary: What was thought to be just a summer vacation spent the commoner way had apparently bound the golden sun and the deep blue sea together. Mori X OC. (This is a revised and completed version of this story that I first posted in account name keigee 7 years ago)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Blue + Yellow = Green

(Mori's POV)

"Everyone, I know the greatest way we should spend this summer vacation!" Tamaki announced whilst atop a table in the Third Music Room. He has been pondering for days on how to make this year's summer break memorable for me and Mitsukuni, because once this summer is over, it's goodbye high school, and goodbye Host Club.

"Tell us! Tell us!" chimed my ecstatic cousin as he jumped down from my shoulders and hopped off to where the Host Club's King was. Two identical redheads looked up from the PSP they've been playing with the whole time and asked Tamaki what it was in perfect unison. They sat comfortably on one of the couches surrounding the table Haruhi, who soon found herself staring off into space. Probably planning out her grocery shopping after school, I presumed. To her right was Kyouya, tapping relentlessly at his overworked laptop's keyboard and oblivious to any sound.

"I call it, the 'All-Out Commoner Experience'!" Tamaki proclaimed with outstretched arms and a tone painters would use to present their masterpiece. "It's simple, really. All of us must live in commoner apartments for the whole duration of the summer break. Whether you'll live alone or not is up to you. Thus, we can live a commoner life just like Haruhi! And after going through what she does every day, my daughter's majesty shall be glorified!"

As soon as these words escaped him, Mitsukuni and the Hitachiin twins were instantly enthused. Haruhi twitched at the word "majesty" and I think I just saw bloody murder behind Kyouya's glaring glasses.

Suppressing his inner demons and keeping a cool tone, Kyouya stood up and said "Surely our parents wouldn't allow us to do that, right?"

"Do not fret, mother! I have that all taken care of!" Tamaki thumped his chest twice. "I have already asked for permission from each of your parents, saying it will be for independence training and for gaining further knowledge about commoner preferences, which are important aspects for manager our family's businesses in the near future! Of course they all agreed, even Kyouya's father." Tamaki's grin reached his ears as Kyouya just sighed in defeat.

"And by being a commoner like my daughter, I will then be qualified to be Haruhi's father!" Tamaki swooned as he clutched the evidently annoyed Haruhi around her neck and rubbing his cheek to hers.

"Please let me go, Tamaki-senpai. You're still not going to be my biological and legal father with that," Haruhi stated flatly. With that, Tamaki is sent to his gloom corner, drawing imaginary circles on the tiled floor with his finger. And like the little devils that they are, Hikaru and Kaoru went and teased the depressed Tamaki until he burst into a fit of anger and chased the snickering pair around the room.

I smiled. I'm surely gonna miss this.

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

At the sound, my right hand automatically reached to the side until it touched cold metal. Bringing that cold metal closer, I pressed a button and it was abruptly silenced. I sat up groggily, rubbing my eyes. 6:00 am. Another day has come.

I stretched my creaky arms before standing up and grabbing a jacket and jogging pants in my closet. After slipping them on, I did a few warm-ups before setting Time for some exercise! I went to the nearest park and did about 2 laps of jogging. And now comes the real training. I set my old handy timer up and pressed the start button once I sped off running. After the run, I sat down the nearest bench for a quick breather. After a while, I got back up on my feet. Better go home and make some breakfast.

Oh, right! I think I should tell you who I am. The name's Furisaki Miyori, a senior at Higashi High School. If you're wondering why I'm training myself so early in the morning at the very start of summer break, let's just say I need it. I'm the captain of our school's track team, after all. But why so early in the morning? Two reasons, actually. One, I have a summer job that starts at 7am today; and two, I just naturally wake up early. And why the track team, you ask? I don't know about other runners like me, but I've always just been drawn to the feeling of flying whenever I run at top speed. The wind whipping against me, my body suddenly feeling so light with every fast succession of steps—I imagine that's how it would feel like to fly. Well, enough about that. Let's just go back to the story.

Finally reaching our small house, I took a 5-minute breather before I went to the kitchen. But someone was already there.

"Mom, let me do that! You should get some more rest," I protested upon seeing my mother chopping vegetables in this cold and foggy early morn.

"Aw, don't worry dear. I'm already doing well, thanks to you. This is no problem at all," she said, her balding scalp a grim reminder of her constant fainting spells and morning sicknesses during her many chemotherapy sessions.

"But—"

"Look at the time, Miyori. You're almost late for work, aren't you? Let me do this," she said with her signature calming smile. But despite it, I still can't help but feel that I should be doing all the work in the house. You couldn't just leave a sick person do work, can you? But with her kind chocolate-brown eyes staring reassuringly at me, there was nothing I could do but leave her be. I went up to my room to get dressed in my summer job uniform and grabbed a folder filled with financial reports, class reports, and stuff like that. Our school's student council work never stops even in summer break, not to mention the end of the school year. And being part of said student council, I am never allowed to skip one meeting. I'm the student council president, after all. Well at least until this summer ends, I still am. I went down to the kitchen after getting ready, where Mom served breakfast that I gobbled up as fast as I could, seeing as it was already a quarter to 7. I bid Mom goodbye and sped off to my workplace, somewhat hoping that this summer will be different and memorable one way or another.

* * *

_A/N: Hello again, ! It is I, keigee. Hahaha. Yeah, I know I've been gone for the longest damn time, but now I'm back because I'VE FINALLY FINISHED THIS FIC! Yes, I know it only took me 7 years to finish but what's important is that I did finish it. This is officially the first ever full-length multi-chapter fanfic that I have ever finished and quite possibly the longest piece of literature I have ever written in my entire life. I've also revised everything a bit, just to see if I've made any improvements in my writing. _

_Anyhoot, I never would've gotten inspired to go into this story again and finish it if it weren't for the wonderful people who read it and reviewed it in the first place. 61wisampa, samasbananas, fatony, Star at heart, Le Dancing Flamingo, The Midnight Shadow Star, Chishio chuudoku, grayhippo, nA-chan525, fluttered heart, Escape to Ouran, Araya Light, BleckBlah5956, JJ-Jefferu, Tomomidesu, joycecute25, The Yoshinator, fantasyblast, Michaaanmi, Sweet Sweeteners, Sparklefaith, Silent Shooter, jinglepinglepie, Marbea, Misty-chanXx, miramisa90212, KayDizzle, Vendori, Sesflynn, NefelibataGhost, musician216, guests who left a review, and everyone else who read this but just didn't leave a review. I don't know if you'll ever see this, but I just wanted to say, you guys are the very reason why I made an entirely new account on here and decided to rewrite this fic up to the very end. Your long-awaited ending is finally here! Sorry it took so long, but I decided to finish this no matter what in gratitude for you guys. You are the ones who watched me take my first baby steps in writing, the ones who encouraged me and gave me helpful criticism when I needed it. You gave me so much more love than 15-year-old me could've imagined. I became convinced that writing is what I'm meant to do because of you. Yes, you. You guys are the very reason why I still write. And for that, I can't thank you enough._

_If you're a new reader (though I highly doubt there will be any), you can go over to my first account named keigee to see the original (unfinished) version of this, and also some glimpses of 15-year-old me._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Operation Summer, Commence!

(Mori's POV)

_1…_"Hah!" _2… _"Hah!" _3… _"Hah!"…and so on and so forth. Just like that, my usual early-morning kendo training went on peacefully until…

"Takashi, I'm here~!" shrilled the all-too familiar voice of my cousin. I went out to the gateway to meet him and he skipped along with me into the house. I served him some tea and cake while I went to my room to get ready. The "All-Out Commoner Experience" was starting today. Having packed my things the night before, I went with Mitsukuni to his limo after he was done eating and loaded my bags into the limo, right beside Mitsukuni's noticeably smaller luggage.

Truth be told, I was actually looking forward to this day. And it would seem that my cousin shared my enthusiasm, because he just animatedly talked about it for the whole duration of our ride to our apartment building. We got one that's a short distance from Haruhi's and had rented individual rooms next to each other. That way, I can monitor my cousin and remind him to brush his teeth always, or else he'll get a cavity again and we all know what happens after that. Bags in hand, me and Mitsukuni boarded the elevator up to the second floor. Our rooms were number 213 and 214—the latter was mine. After Mitsukuni entered his room, I turned the door knob and stepped into my room. As expected, commoner rooms were small, but I reckoned it would be enough for just me. There was a single bed to the far right corner, a small study table next to it with 2 drawers, a closet at the left side, a small Japanese dining table, some tatami mats, and a wide sliding window. I breathed in the room's quaint and humid air. So far, I can already see this summer turning out to be very memorable. Good job, Tamaki.

(Miyori's POV)

"Welcome to Heidi's Sweets Shop! May I take your order?" I said with a polite bow and a wavering smile for the nth time. It's been like forever since I've been standing on these high-heeled boots, going around taking and serving orders. But in reality, only a mere 4 hours have passed and the heels were already cutting my lifespan by three years. The black and white maid outfit was getting kind of itchy, too. The short hem of the skirt also made it a little uncomfortable to wear. Good thing I wore bloomers. But still, this much exposure is tortuous. _Miyori, hang in there! Remember this is all for Mom!_

"We'd like two choux ala crème and a chocolate mousse, please," the customer said as I promptly wrote down his order. Continuously taking orders and carrying mouth-watering sweets in a heavy tray from one table to another was slowly draining me out, and a tired sigh naturally escaped me. I have been working here part-time for a year now, but I have never felt this tired before. Maybe it's the summer heat that makes you just want to melt into the floor and lie there like a puddle until night comes. No, it's not that. I'm not the type to do that. Maybe it's my body clock. I mean, I'm used to just sitting in classes at this time of the day. It seems my body is only used to working after class hours. No, wait. After class, I usually have student council meetings for an hour, and afterwards, another hour for track team training. So my body has only been accustomed to work after 6pm. And with all the part-time jobs I have to take, I usually go home so late that it's a mystery how I even find time to study. Maybe I'm just that good at time management? But right now, I can only wait for the hours to pass until finally…

"Furisaki-san, you can have your break now," the assistant manager told me, and the first thing I did when I got to the staff room was sit. The heels were killing me! "High-_hells_" would be a more suitable name for them. As I sat by the huge sliding windows of the staff room, I saw a gaggle of girls my age just going around shopping and having fun. Watching them, I couldn't help but wish that something exciting would happen before this summer, my high school life, comes to an end.

(Mori's POV)

After getting back from our first ever commoner grocery shopping experience, me and Mitsukuni headed off to the place Tamaki told us to meet a day before. It was in a coffee shop near the place we went to back when we dragged Kyouya out of his bed to join us (and accidentally left him all alone), so it wasn't too hard for us to find. When we passed the colorful candy shop on the way there, I kept a close eye on Mitsukuni. If I take my eyes off him for a second, I wouldn't be surprised to find his arms full of candy.

"Mommy, the twins are being mean!" Tamaki whined at Kyouya, who turned his back on the ruckus.

"You're just freaking out too much about the twins picking Haruhi up. I mean, what's wrong with that?" Kyouya stated apathetically. Haruhi just rolled her eyes. There they go again.

"Good moring everyone~!" greeted my ecstatic cousin amidst his chaos, his own little way of settling them down. Just like that, the twins ceased their mocking and the frenzied Tamaki returned to normal and greeted us.

"Alright! Now that we're all here, let's go to the park! There, we can play in the summer sun like commoners do!"

"Tono, why don't we have a picnic?" the twins chorused.

"Excellent idea! Haruhi, my daughter, we must go to a mall and buy a basket and some sandwiches. If you may, please lead the way!" Tamaki declared while tucking his arm under Haruhi's, who sighed in defeat.

It was then that I noticed. Mitsukuni was not by my side anymore. My eyes searched the crowded area frantically, hoping to see that light brown head of hair, but there was none. Upon instinct, I went to the candy shop we saw earlier. But then, a peculiar sign at the door met my sight.

"Only for children. Guardians, please wait outside," the sign said. You have got to be kidding me. I searched the sea of children, but then something caught my sight. My heart beat immediately sped up until I swear it skipped several beats. Sitting on the counter, all alone, was an all-too-familiar pink stuffed bunny. Usa-chan. Mitsukuni would never leave it. I tried to search for him again, but he wasn't in there. Dread welled up inside me as I started to walk away to begin searching the whole town, and then my phone rang.

"Hello? Mori-senpai?" said the slightly boyish voice of Haruhi. "Where are you, senpai? Tamaki-senpai is freaking out here worrying about you and even plans to call a search-and rescue team. Hikaru and Kaoru are restraining him right now." Then, it all went noisy and it sounded like they were taking Haruhi's phone from her. When the noise settled down, I heard some panting before a frantic voice spoke.

"Mori-senpai! Where are you? Are you and Hunny-senpai alright?" It was Tamaki, speaking with almost no pauses for air. "I couldn't contact Hunny-senpai. What happened to him?"

"That's what I'm trying to know," I spoke, worry and anxiety almost swallowing my words. I heard a series of gasps over the phone.

"Should I call our search-and-rescue team, Mori-senpai?" asked a cool baritone voice that was unmistakably Kyouya's.

"No, don't." This wasn't for them to resolve. Mitsukuni is my responsibility, and I shouldn't burden them with it.

As if reading my mind, the Host Club's leader spoke up, now serious. "Please tell us where you are, senpai. We'd all like to help." Knowing it's impossible to stop a determined Tamaki, I gave them the name of the shop, which was Miracle Candy Shop.

"I know where that is," Haruhi said, then the call ended.

Well, the shop sure did stick to its name. For it had just miraculously made my cousin disappear.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: And Thus, Green was Created

(Miyori's POV)

Searching for some kind of entertainment for the rest of my one-hour break, I let my attention wander to the busy shops lined up across the street. Oh, this is a good one! I could observe that weird candy shop and note what kind of candy sells the best. The kids' guardians, as usual, sat by the bench outside the shop. This is why that candy shop is so weird. It only allows children in, and lets their guardians wait outside. But it was always brimming with customers ever since its opening, probably because it sells unique imported treats. Then, something absurd happened. Two men in the shop's uniform went out by the shop's backdoor, carrying a large sack. When the two men crossed the street, I saw the sack move a bit. My suspicions grew when they entered the dark alley just beside where I was. I crouched to hide myself, peeping up just a bit to see their every move. And when they unloaded whatever was inside that sack, my eyes widened. Shock. Nothing but shock registered in my mind. Inside that large sack was a little boy with hair in such a light shade of brown that it almost looked blond. He was tied up and gagged with a white handkerchief, which I presumed contained a sleeping drug because the boy's eyes were shit as a clam. Then the two men began searching his pockets and I waited no more. I rushed out of the shop, still clad in my uniform and heels. I was not about to just watch this happen.

(3rd POV)

"Stop right there, you scums!" yelled an enraged Miyori as she glared at the crouching figures of two men from a short distance away. Their eyes widened with shock and guilt, then were suddenly filled with anger. One man lunged at the girl but was only met with a strong fist drilling into his stomach. As he cringed in pain, he was dealt with an axe kick, the strong pang of the heels knocking him down and almost rendering him brain-dead. As if to avenge his partner in crime, the other man charged forth, one fist clenched and ready to attack. But as he was about to deliver the punch, his chin met Miyori's deadly heels and was sent flying from the ground. Her green orbs sparkling in delight, Miyori performed her specialty—the roundhouse kick. Her fiery red hair danced with the wind until she landed steadily on the ground, where the men's bodies lay unconscious.

"That'll teach you to mess with Dad's finest," she scoffed at the two immobile bodies before walking over to the unconscious boy.

(Mori's POV)

As soon as the Host Club met up, we split up in pairs, and I was to search in the street of that candy shop with Kyouya. Kyouya searched in the lane of the candy shop, and I searched in the one opposite it. My first instinct was to search in the sweets shop just across the street. He probably just skipped off to this shop to take a bite or something. But I didn't see him in any of the tables.

Then, as I exited the shop and headed to the one next to it, a light shade of brown in a narrow alley beside the sweets shop caught my attention. The next thing I saw was a red-haired girl dressed in the same uniform as the maids in the sweets shop. I slowly approached to see what was going on, all while texting Kyouya where I was, but then I was met with two unconscious men lying on the ground. They wore identical light-pink shirt with the name "Miracle Candy Shop" on the logo, and a large white sack lay not far from where they were. The girl approached my cousin, who was lying unconscious at the end of the alley, and crouched down in front of him. I was ready to jump into action, but then she took his wrist and checked his pulse, then grabbed his wallet and put it back in his jeans pocket. Then she proceeded to remove the gag around his mouth, and right then, I figured out the puzzle pieces. Those two men were kidnappers, and this girl saved my cousin. Now that I was sure of her innocence, I called out my cousin's name.

(Miyori's POV)

"Mitsukuni!" I heard a deep voice from behind. I whirled around and saw the silhouette of a tall and dark-haired man. I presumed he was the boy's brother, but as he drew near, I realized he was a lot taller than he seemed. Then, I realized that he probably suspects me, so I drew up my hands in defence.

"Ah, this is not what you think! Those men were—" I started to say but his answer was quick.

"I know." He bent down to until the ropes on the boy's feet and hands. Then, another guy came into the scene. He also had dark hair but it was longer, and his glasses shone in the sunlight.

"Mori-senpai, is she…" he said, eyeing me warily as he approached but the guy whose name was Mori shook his head.

"It's those guys." He turned his head toward the two mean I had just knocked out. At that moment, the little boy opened his eyes, revealing half-lidded hazel orbs.

He started to speak in a weak voice. "Ta…Taka—"

"Don't talk," Mori said, hoisting the boy onto his back. "Hang on." The guy with glasses, who was on the phone the whole time, finally turned to me and smiled. I found it quite weird, but I couldn't point out how.

"We're very grateful to you, miss. You have just saved my friend's life. Thank you so much for your bravery and courage. If you would, please accompany us to your shop," he said in a rehearsed tone. "You work there at Heidi Sweets Shop, don't you?" I started to wonder how he knew that, but I remembered I was still wearing the maid uniform, so I nodded. "Then, we'd like to make arrangements with you on how to repay you," he said as we started to walk out of the dark alley.

"No, it's okay. You really don't need to," I replied with a smile. If I accepted this reward without protesting at least once, my conscience would never forgive me.

"No need to be embarrassed. We simply have to show our gratitude. So please, accept our offer," he said too kindly that I couldn't refuse. So, all four of us went into the shop, receiving a lot of shocked (and envious) stares from my blushing workmates. I gestured them towards a booth when all of a sudden, the door burst open with a loud announcement.

"MORI-SENPAI! HUNNY-SENPAI! WE HAVE COME TO THE RESCUE!" a blond guy proclaimed gallantly, as if he were rescuing a princess or something. Then, two guys who were exact copies of each other slammed a clenched fist on the blond's head.

A girl with chestnut-brown hair just sighed and said, "Senpai, stop humiliating us." She and her company immediately proceeded to the little boy's booth and the blond started expressing his fatherly relief of the boy's safety. Finally noticing my existence, they thanked me and went on and on about how they'll thank me by giving me a house and lot, a car, a private jet, and lots more stuff that only rich people can buy, so I just shrugged off their statements. Then I stared at the girl closer. She looked achingly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then, it hit me. The famous commoner scholar of the prestigious Ouran High School.

"Excuse me," I said facing her. "Do you, by any chance, come from Higashi Middle School?" I asked.

Her eyes widened in shock and confusion. Slowly, she nodded and said yes. Then, hesitantly, I uttered a sentence that I had no idea would propel me to the most thrilling summer I'll probably ever have.

"Are you Fujioka Haruhi?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Twisted Colors

(Mori's POV)

"Are you Fujioka Haruhi?"

With that one question, all of us fell silent at once. I was quite shocked myself that the red-haired stranger knew Haruhi's identity but as always, my face didn't show. But for the rest of the Host Club (except Kyouya of course), shock was written all over their face. Any second now, Tamaki will freak out about his "daughter's" identity being revealed. That, or he'll probably think up some kind of plan to threaten her into silence. And based on the way he closed his eyes in deep thought, I bet it's the latter. I sighed. His blue eyes opened once again. 3…2…1…

"Hikaru, Kaoru," he said with a snap of his fingers. And immediately, the three were whizzing off to the nearest room there was, dragging the confused crimson-haired girl with them. Haruhi was close behind them, yelling at them to stop whatever it was they were doing. Kyouya, Mitsukuni and I followed suit. But we were only followed by confused and alarmed stares from the shop's staff. Luckily, Kyouya decided to use his host skills on them.

"I apologize for my friends' rude behaviors," he said to the cashier with that host smile of his, which caused the wonderstruck girl to blush madly just like all the girls we served at school. "We are currently solving a personal problem, so I must ask for your consideration to let us use your staff room for a while." He gave them a well-rehearsed apologetic look, which left me wondering how he can always act so well. Once the cashier nodded slowly, eyes glued to Kyouya, he turned to the maids who were also staring at him. "We'll try to solve the problem as fast as we could, so I ask for your consideration and forgiveness. We'll pay for any damage my friends will most possibly cause…" and on and on he went. They all turned apple-red, some cupping their cheeks, their eyes shaped like hearts, and…were they drooling? Oh well, we'll take that as a yes.

We rushed into the small room, blocked at the entrance by a screaming Haruhi who was struggling in the firm grasp of the Hitachiin twins. Then, the sight I half-expected met my eyes. My cousin's savior was tied to a chair, from her shoulders downwards. Well, this is what she gets as thanks from the Host Club.

(Miyori's POV)

"Wha—" I started in an attempt to demand a reasonable explanation for what they had just done to me, but as always, that Tamaki guy stopped.

"You have discovered Haruhi's true gender, which should never be," he said and I twitched. Is he saying that knowing Haruhi is a crime now? What next? I'm a criminal for knowing my own mother? I just shrugged at his statement as he babbled stuff like "Our father-daughter bond will disappear entirely!" and yelled the brunette's name as he ran to her. Father and daughter? What was he supposed to be, a father at 2 years old or something? You have got to be kidding me. If my hands weren't tied up, I would've face-palmed. But a low voice with a hint of killing intent stopped me from doing so. In fact, it had frozen me entirely.

"Tamaki," spoke that dark voice, which came from the guy with glasses. He was emitting a dangerously threatening aura, which sent shivers to my spine. And to think at first he was all smiling and kind. I knew it. That was a façade. And he was really good at it.

"Yes mother?" the Tamaki dude chimed innocently and I cringed. Is he incapable of reading the mood in a room or something? Well, that incapability is gonna be cured now.

"Shut up." Talk about beauty in simplicity. Those two words and a death glare aimed at no other than Tamaki were enough to silence him completely and take at least 10 years off his life span. The aforesaid blond immediately shrunk into a corner in utter fear. The twins also let go of Haruhi and shrunk into the corner with Tamaki. This guy, who Tamaki called mother (and I wonder why), had scared the soul out of them. I just sat there, frozen in fear and just watched the life escape them. Then, the most frightening thing happened. Scary glasses guy was approaching _me._

(Mori's POV)

Slowly approaching the girl, Kyouya forced a kind look (which he surprisingly achieved) before he spoke. But that only seemed to freak out the girl even more.

"We're very sorry for our rude and unjust actions," Kyouya began with his signature host smile. On instinct, I went over to the back of the girl and began untying the ropes, which were clumsily knotted. Once the ropes were gone, she turned to me and said thanks before taking the ropes around her body. It was when she stood up and took a few steps toward Kyouya that I noticed how tall the girl is. She was taller than him by about the same amount as the heels she was wearing. I even saw Kyouya's eyes widen a bit because of her unexpectedly tall height, which we all failed to notice at first.

"Okay, I understand you're gonna pay for all this and yada yada yada," she started, her face now devoid of fear and now only contained resolution. "But could you pleaseexplain to me why I was, er, imprisoned like this?" She was surprisingly calm about this. Normally, anyone in this situation would kick and scream their lungs out asking for a reasonable enough explanation for them not to sue.

"I mean, just knowing Fujioka Haruhi's gender is now a crime? When was she _not _a girl?" she said, eyeing us sceptically. Then with a sigh, she crossed her shoulders and shrugged. "Is it my fault we were schoolmates?" Immediately, everyone's heads turn to her in shock. This girl never fails to surprise us.

(Miyori's POV)

As soon as I stated my reason for knowing Haruhi, I saw Kyouya's eyebrow perk up a bit, as if something clicked inside his head.

"You are Furisaki Miyori of Higashi High School, yes?" he asked me in a calm voice, and I instantly stiffened. Is this guy omniscient or something?

"W-why do you know that?" I spoke in a shaky voice.

"If I'm not mistaken, you won a gold medal for the female category of last year's Interschool Olympics and even the year before that. Though you were offered to be on Japan's track and field team for the Olympics this year, your school reasoned that you had studies and the student council to attend to. You are graduating this year, and you are the student council president, so it was refused. Is that correct?"

My jaw dropped. Straight down to the floor. And it stayed there. This complete stranger is officially _creepy. _And then, an awful realization hit me. This guy could just find some way to tell the Olympics team that I am available right now. And after all the effort the teachers have gone through to convince the students to conceal my availability. I'll then be dragged all the way to China to train all day. But of course that wasn't my problem. My problem was leaving my mother all alone. My _sick _mother. Oh [insert profanity here]. He's going to use this information to blackmail me. I'm dead.

(Mori's POV)

Miyori froze in front of me and I noticed all the other members' eyes were glued to her. Even mine. She was the rumoured track and field runner who won a lot of track and field competitions for years now, and even two consecutive years at the nationwide Interschool Olympics. She's said to have set the most unthinkable record times in the history of Japanese track and field. And the fact that that legendary runner was right here in front of us was nothing short of amazing. But to her, it was clearly not. By the way she stood frozen in place, I could tell that she realized what Kyouya could do with the information he had on her. This clearly spelled trouble for her. The poor girl.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: I Wonder What Student Council Work Is?

(Miyori's POV)

"Furisaki Miyori-san," Mr. Shadows spoke, his glasses glinting. "You can probably guess by now that we are quite rich. My family actually has connections to some officials in the Olympic Games. Now, if you don't want to get shipped to China this very instant, you'll keep quiet about all this and pretend we never met." His cold and scary aura was back again, and everyone had freezed in the background (except Haruhi and that tall guy. They just stood there deadpan). But I had seen this coming. Yep, I knew it. Almost the same lines as I expected. I took a step toward him, which caused him to raise his eyebrow sceptically.

I smirked. "It seems someone doesn't know his position here," I said, and I saw his eyes widen ever so slightly. "It's true that you can go tell some official that I'm free for the summer and all, but that is all you know about me, right? You only hold my freedom. But I know about Haruhi being a girl, which is pretty obvious, and that you guys have a tendency to be kidnappers. In short, I hold both Haruhi's gender information and your reputations." Okay, I didn't exactly know who they are but since they're supposed to be rich, probably just describing them would give people an idea of who I'm pertaining to.

Glasses Dude narrowed his eyes at me, then he suddenly smiled (or was that a smirk?). "Okay, I understand where you're getting at. But how are you so sure that people are just going to believe you? It's your word against ours."

"That's simple. If I can prove to them that Haruhi is indeed a girl, then they'll know I'm telling the truth about anything else. And I can, because we have records of her at our middle school. Also, I'm pretty sure we had more than one witness of what you guys did to me today." I watched his smile break a bit, and I knew I won that one. I wasn't about to let him win so easily.

"Alright. Instead of making this sound like blackmail, let's make it a deal—"

"Okay then," I interrupted to prevent him from turning the tables on me. "I'll keep quiet about Haruhi being a girl if you keep quiet about me being free for the summer. And about your reputations, I'll keep you guys sounding good if you all do what I want you to do." There was a very long pause as he seemed to think it through.

"Okay. We'll do as you say, plus we'll repay you for rescuing Hunny-senpai by purchasing as much products as we can from this shop for the whole summer," he said in a calm manner as he glanced at the little boy I just saved. Did he just call him senpai?

"Eh?" The twins and Tamaki chorused.

"Mommy, why are you agreeing to this?" Tamaki wailed but suddenly stopped when Mr. Shadows gave him a smile so knowing that one could guess right away that he had something else up his sleeve. Well, whatever that was, I can worry about it when it comes. But for now, victory is mine.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Mr. Shadows asked. Some of them still looked dumbfounded. What? Is it that unusual for a girl to make a guy do her bidding? Well it may be unusual for them, but in my school, all my co-members in the student council are guys so I'm quite used to ordering guys around—Wait a minute. Light bulb.

"Student Council work," I said.

"Eh? What's that?" the twins asked together.

"Oh, you'll know soon. But there's one thing I want to know, though. Why do we have to conceal Haruhi's true gender? I mean, it's pretty obvious. Something must have happened at Ouran." I eyed them suspiciously. "What did you do to her?"

"It's really nothing, Miyori-san," Haruhi spoke with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, she just happened to stumble into the Host Club…" one of the twins said.

"…and broke our 8,000,000 yen vase," the other one finished. The vase was _how much?_

"So, uh, I was forced to join the Host Club as a male host since everyone in school mistook me as a guy with my haircut and clothes, and because it's a quicker way to pay my debt," Haruhi said.

"F-forced…?" Tamaki sobbed and went into a corner.

"What's the Host Club?" I asked and instantly, Tamaki sprung up with rays of light emitting from behind him. Rose petals suddenly swirled in the air around him. Where the heck did those come from?

"Oh, my fair princess! You've been locked up in your tower for too long! But do not fret! We, the Host Club, shall free you and take you to a new dimension!" he said with exaggerated hand movements and a princely tone.

I twitched. _Princess?_ "Oookay…So what exactly do you guys do?"

"To put it simply, we entertain girls at our school and they pay us for it," Haruhi stated. "The girls can choose which 'type' they want to designate. This is Suoh Tamaki-senpai. He's the so-called prince type." She pointed at the grinning Tamaki beside her. "This is Ootori Kyouya-senpai, the cool type." She glanced at Mr. Shadows. So Kyouya was his name. And I think I've definitely heard those surnames before.

"He's also known as the Shadow King. Don't ask why," the twins whispered beside me. Oh I think we all know very well why.

Haruhi gestured towards them. "Oh, these are Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru. They're the little devil types. The twins grinned.

"Suitable title," I said under my breath.

Then, the little boy I saved earlier skipped to my side. "He is Haninozuka Mitsukuni-senpai, but we all call him Hunny-senpai. He's the loli-shota type, and believe it or not, he's 18." _Uh, what?_

"Thanks for saving me earlier, Miyo-chan~!" So, can I eat cake now?" he said in a very child-like voice. I'm gonna need more proof to make me believe he's actually my age.

"And he is Morinozuka Takashi-senpai, or just Mori-senpai. He's the wild type." She glanced at the tall guy.

"Thanks for saving Mitsukuni," he said in the deepest voice I've ever heard. I've noticed he never talked all that much. He has barely spoken a word this whole time. He reminded me of how my best friend used to be, which must explain why I felt drawn to him.

Then I noticed that I was already staring at him so I spoke. "Oh, that was no problem!" I said with a smile. "So, are you two like, brothers or something?"

"Cousins."

"Ah, I see. So, are you guys pretty close?" He just nodded in reply. "Must be fun to have such a lively person with you, huh?" He nodded again. For most people, this lack of response can get annoying. But I really didn't mind it. In fact, talking to him felt kinda fun, especially when I think of how stupid I must look being replied to with only nods. There was also something about his silence that calmed me. This calmness I get from hanging out with quiet people must be the reason why I tend to be drawn to them.

Then, Hunny came skipping to us, clutching a pink stuffed bunny. "Um, Miyo-chan. Can I eat cake now~?" he asked me.

"Oh yeah, sure!" I said and Hunny gave a whoop of joy as he clutched my arm. I led the way out of the room and to their tables. Once they were seated, I took their order, which was all of the products we had left in stock today.

"So, what year are you two in?" I asked Mori and Hunny.

"We're in third year~! Me and Takashi are classmates too~!"

"We're in the same year then! So can I call you guys Hunny-kun and Mori-kun?"

"Sure~!" Hunny-kun said and Mori-kun nodded.

"So you're our senpai?" Hikaru (or Kaoru?) said.

"Well, Miyori-senpai it is!" Kaoru followed.

Minutes later, my workmates and I brought their orders to their table and we watched Hunny-kun devour it all in one breath. We just stood their slack-jawed.

"Don't worry, Miyori-senpai. That's just his normal consumption," said Kyouya, who I learned to be a second year along with the enraged Tamaki. Why was he enraged? Well, the first year twins decided to mess with the Host Club's king. Hikaru had stuffed a spoon of cake to their classmate Haruhi's mouth, and Kaoru wiped some cream off of her face with is finger.

"HOW DARE YOU LAY YOUR FILTHY HANDS ON MY DAUGHTER!" Tamaki shrieked. Then he halted when Kyouya sent him a death glare because people were staring at them.

I left them be for the rest of my shift and soon enough, my shift was over and I changed out of my uniform. The Host Club was still there, so we headed out of the shop together.

"See you guys at school tomorrow! You better be there at 8am sharp or you get more work!" I shouted at them as I sprinted towards home in my comfortable sneakers. I ran up the inclining path to my house with a huge smile plastered to my face. Not only have I found some extra hands for student council work, but I've also found some interesting new people who might make this summer less boring, especially that Mori-kun. His and Hunny-kun's surnames sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I just shoved the thought away and instead, thought about what kind of conversations I might have with him tomorrow. I couldn't help but smile all the way home.

(Mori's POV)

"Yay~! I ate so much cake today~!" my cousin beamed, tossing his bunny in the air as we walked up the path to our apartment. Then he turned to me, an apologetic look on his face. "Takashi, I'm sorry I wandered off to that candy shop without your permission. I really let my guard down back there because there were so many sweets."

"No, I'm sorry," I replied. It was my fault in the first place, for not keeping a close eye on Mitsukuni. All of this wouldn't have happened, and now we'll be doing student council work for the rest of the summer. Of course, I was okay with that, but I didn't know about Mitsukuni.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about, Takashi. In fact, because of what happened, I got to eat a lot of cake~! And we get to see a public school and work there~!" I knew he'd say that. I don't know how he could be so positive. "But y'know, Miyo-chan is so cool! She fought off those kidnappers on her own, and even defeated Kyo-chan in his forte! Isn't she amazing~?" He was right about that. No ordinary girl would jump right into a crime scene and defeat the criminals on her own. Nor can any girl (or person) even speak in front of the Shadow King, much less counter him. But Miyori did. She was different, even from her height. She was unusually tall for girls her age. And most of all, she talked to me so casually and comfortably. _Me. _No girl has ever done that, well except for Haruhi. The girls I know would be too afraid or shy to talk to me since I don't respond much, and when they do, they'd just tire themselves out trying to get me to speak. But Miyori seemed like she even enjoyed talking to me. She was one different girl. As different as this summer is starting to be.

(The Next Day)

"We're here," Haruhi stated as we approached some gates. Ahead was a fairly large school building with about three floors. Tamaki and the twins gasped as if they saw a world wonder. Then, a familiar red-head jogged up to us in what seemed to be the school's uniform. I inwardly commented on how different she looked dressed like this. It made her look a little younger and vibrant because of how it allowed her more room to move.

"Hey guys! Good to see you're all here on time. Let's go!" Miyori said in that same lively way as when she talked to me yesterday. Normally, I'd get a little annoyed when people keep asking me questions just to keep a conversation with me. But when she did it, I didn't find it annoying at all. It was even kind of…comforting.

She led the way into the building and we were soon passing classrooms on the first floor, which seemed to be where the first years were based on the classroom markings.

"Eh? Isn't it summer vacation? Why are some students still having classes?" Tamaki asked as we passed a room with 5 students and a teacher.

"Remedial classes, perhaps?" Kyouya said.

"That's right!" Miyori said as she led the way up a flight of stairs, and then another one. "We're here!" As we got up to the third floor, we noticed there were several guys waiting outside a room with a "Student Council Room" signboard above it. Miyori greeted them jubilantly and after receiving enthused replies, she entered the room. Suddenly, all the guys went stiff and pale. They seemed to make a path for someone but all we could see was a cloud of dark aura. A while later, the source of that aura emerged. It was a small girl, about the same size as Mitsukuni, her hands in the pockets of her uniform skirt, and her bag dangling on her wrist. Strapped across her small body was what seemed to be a wooden katana. She halted in front of Tamaki, who was leading our group.

"Move it," she said in a threatening, dark voice and a death glare that parred with Kyouya's aimed directly at Tamaki. The frightened blond moved aside instantly, huddling with the twins as they all turned white as a sheet of paper. The girl walked into the room beside us, with a "3-A" sign above the door.

Just then, Miyori came out of the student council room. "What's the matter, guys? Come on in."

"PRESIDENT! RIN-SENPAI HAS PUT A CURSE ON US!" shrieked one of the guys.

"S-SO SCARY!" Tamaki and the twins whimpered.

"Oh, Rin? Come on guys, there's nothing to be afraid of. She just might be in a bad moon today but really, she's a nice person," Miyori replied.

"She's _always _in a bad mood!" one guy screamed.

"She just might beat us up into minced meat like she did with the kendo and judo club two years ago," said the other guy.

"That rumor was true?!" yelped another.

"There's also a rumor that says if you look into her eyes for more than 5 seconds, you'll get cursed!"

"No way! So that second year Kubota-kun really was cursed!"

Tamaki and the twins had crept closer to hear the conversation. Then, I looked at Mitsukuni. Normally, he'd be there with them, but he just stood by me and stared at the door that girl just entered. He didn't seem scared; in fact, he even seemed curious about her.

"They aren't listening, huh?" Miyori sighed as she shook her head.

"Hmm…I think I've heard those rumors before. The one where a certain first year high school girl beat up a whole kendo and judo club on her own. The issue was so big it reached the middle school. Is it really true, senpai?" Haruhi asked her.

"Well, yeah…that is true. But the kendo club president started it! Rin started carrying a wooden katana for self-defense one day but that guy saw it as a mockery, saying she was too puny to even wield it properly and said she didn't deserve to have it. So he challenged her but Rin beat him up, along with his club. Then the judo club joined in and were beaten, too." Haruhi's jaw just dropped, and so did Mitsukuni's. Well, I think that was one rotten president. Kendo isn't for showing off strength and oppressing the weak, it's for protecting them. "I guess that's when people started fearing her. But I swear, Rin's a nice girl. She just needs time to get along with," Miyori said with a knowing smile.

"Are you friends with her, Miyo-chan?" my cousin asked.

"Correction. _Best _friends," she said with a grin. "Okay, people! Enough with the ruckus. Let's get to work!" she shouted at the bustling people. The rest of the Host Club went on inside, and so we followed. Then, she turned to me with a smile so bright it beat the sun shining on her.

"Let's go!"

_A/N: If anyone sees plot holes, please forgive me. I'm just going with what 15-year-old me thought of, okay? xD_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Student Council President

(Mori's POV)

"President! Where do these go?" hollered one guy at Miyori as he carried two boxes filled with worn-out baseball mitts.

"Oh, just put those in the stock room!" Miyori yelled back as she wiped a bead of sweat on her forehead. We had been carrying boxes and crates from one room to another, going up and down the three floors of the building, and sorting files and folders in the student council room for about three hours now. Yet this is the first time I've seen her break a sweat.

"Those looked worn-out. Why not just throw them away, senpai?" Tamaki asked as he carried a box.

"No can do! We might find one or two good mitts from those piles, and some of them probably just need a little patching up. For public schools like us, each one counts," she said as she lifted two boxes and walked off.

"Ah~ How tiring~" sighed the twins as they lazily slumped to a wall.

Tamaki pointed at them. "Hey you two! No slacking off! We must be as strong and enduring as commoners. Take Miyori-senpai, for example. She's working harder than any of us!"

"Hmm…I wonder why Miyori-senpai's so strong," Hikaru asked his twin (or vice versa, I couldn't tell).

"Beats me," Kaoru replied.

"The real question is, why does Kyouya-senpai get to just sit around and type?" they chorused as they gestured accusingly at Kyouya, who was seated outside the student council room, typing endlessly on his laptop while glancing at a mound of piles beside him.

"Since the auditor is sick, he was appointed by Miyori-senpai to be the temporary auditor, remember?" Haruhi stated, also carrying a box as she passed them. Tamaki gasped at the sight of his "daughter" doing heavy work.

"I shall relieve you of your burden, my dear daughter! Give me your box!" the blond said in his princely manner.

"You don't need to, senpai. I'm off," the brunette replied flatly as she walked off, leaving Tamaki being stricken by an imaginary lightning bolt.

Then, he straightened up. "But really though, why _is _Miyori-senpai so strong?" he asked. I've been wondering about that too.

Then, one of the students (the secretary, as I remember), approached our group. "That's because Miyori-san has been working hard ever since first year for her current position. Back then, delinquency and bullying was quite rampant, and the student council wouldn't do anything about it, because the president himself was a member of the school's gangs as well."

Another student, the P.I.O., joined in "That president's gang composed of almost the whole male population in school. They would nominate and vote for a member of theirs each year so that their treacherous reign goes on. Miyori-san didn't like that, so she decided to stand up to them and nominated herself for the presidential position. But soon, she realized that if the gang still existed, she won't have a chance of winning."

"So, she trained herself vigorously to establish dominance over every member of the gang by defeating them in their own game. She challenged them in whatever sport or area they excelled in. Day and night, she'd practice just about every sport in this school, including kendo and judo. And all that while maintaining her top spot in class."

"And also managing our class as the class president until now."

"We sometimes noticed that she gets tired, but the smile she greets us with every morning never changed. She was still incredibly nice and helpful to just about anyone, which is why everyone in school respects her so much."

"That respect only grew even more when she succeeded in her mission to defeat the gang members. They all became her instant devotees once they were defeated, including the ex-president when Miyori-san won the elections. They never resorted back to their evil doings again ever since Miyori-san told them to stop."

"But why did she do all those tiring things? Couldn't she just leave them to anyone else?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

"She'd always tell us that no one seemed willing to do anything about it, and she felt a certain responsibility to do her part in making the school a better place. Also, she said she wanted to stop the bullying incidents for a person who was always bullied back then. She'd never tell us who it is though," the secretary replied before walking off with the P.I.O. I didn't expect that at all. I knew she was strong, but I didn't realize up to what extent until now. She has gone through a lot.

About two hours after lunch, I was about to carry a pile of boxes to some room when Mitsukuni approached me with teary eyes.

"Takashi, I wanna eat cake~!" he wailed.

"Us, too~!" the twins piped in. Miyori was heading to the pile of boxes beside us and heard the ruckus. She heaved out a long sigh in defeat.

"Alright, go get yourselves some food. But make sure you come back, okay?" she said with authority. Then, she glanced at me and called the twins. "Oh, right. You two keep a close eye on Hunny-kun, okay?" The twins nodded vigorously.

"We're off~!" chimed the trio as they skipped off. Then, Miyori turned to me with that contagious smile.

"I do hope they'll be careful, especially Hunny-kun." She looked at me with eyes of deep green that seemed to scan mine. "You're worried too, right?" How did she know that?

She walked past me to the stock room then suddenly turned right back to face me. "Oh right! Before I forget…" All of a sudden, she bowed down as low as she could at me. "It is an honor to be of your acquaintance, successor of the great Morinozuka clan, Morinozuka Takashi-sama!" She spoke in such an uncharacteristically formal tone that it made me feel uncomfortable. So she knows already. Somehow, that disappointed me, especially because she seemed more distant when she's all formal like this. "Forgive me for not recognizing you right away. My father once trained under your clan, and afterwards, switched to judo and trained under the Haninozuka clan. It's my honor to be able to meet the heir of the clan that gave my father his kendo skills, which he passed down to me." Then, she stood up straight and smiled. "That said, let's get back to work!" All the formality suddenly vanished like thin air, and somehow, it relieved me. "Oh, is it okay if I still call you Mori-kun?" At that, I nodded and she beamed happily.

"Your dad…" I started, wanting to know more about him and Miyori's background.

"Oh, yeah. He taught me some kendo when I was like five, but later on, he realized that carrying a katana around might be uncomfortable to me." She lets out a laugh. "So that's why he switched to judo to teach it to me." She gave a small giggle as she piled some boxes on top of each other. Then I realized that she's going to attempt to carry three large boxes on her own. It was then I noticed that she seemed a little paler now, and it was clear fatigue was attacking her.

"I'll carry these," I said as I lifted the box at the top, which was heavier than it looked.

"Oh! No, no, no! You don't need to! I've got this," she protested, her smile still bright and lively, but her eyes the opposite. I narrowed my eyes at her. "I can do this, I promise!" She lifted those three heavy boxes in one swift movement before she walked away. Her body didn't quiver, her arms firm, and her footing stable. She may be the only girl this strong, but I doubt it. Quietly, I followed her. I have a feeling she's just forcing herself. Is she?

(Miyori's POV)

"I'll be alright!" I called back to Mori-kun, who was staring at me as if he doubted everything I said, before rounding a corner. He had a right to do so, though. I lied. I wasn't alright. I felt dizzy, and it took all of my remaining stamina to walk steadily and keep my body from crouching with the weight of the boxes in my weak arms. All so as not to make myself look weak in front of anyone. Of him.

"_I'll carry those."_

No, I definitely cannot be weak. Not in front of Mori-kun. If I really want to be friends with him, or anyone at that, I shouldn't burden him. I shouldn't depend on anyone, especially him. He's a Morinozuka. He shouldn't be helping mere commoners like me. I closed my eyes tight, trying to keep my head from spinning, and opened them again. I walked to my right to get to the baseball equipment room. Suddenly, my surroundings seemed to swerve to the left and before I knew it, I was falling backwards. Everything seemed to swirl. My body felt weightless. _Am I fainting…? _I closed my eyes shut, expecting a cold, hard floor to meet my back any second now. I waited for about 10 seconds, but nothing happened. I heard the boxes topple in front of me, but why wasn't I toppling with them? I felt some force pushing me up straight. When I was sure I was stable enough to move, I turned around to see those very familiar dark eyes and matching black hair.

"M-Mori-kun…" was all I could manage to say. No. Not him. Not now.

"Where's the nearest room?" he asked in an urgent tone. A tone that I felt I couldn't protest to.

"I-It's over there…" I pointed to the direction of the baseball equipment room. My eyelids felt as if they want to stay shut forever. Suddenly, Mori-kun grabbed my arm and walked me carefully into the room. He dusted a pile of boxes and gripped my shoulders. He dragged me down to sit atop the pile of boxes and he looked around the dark room.

"Any lights?" he asked in a steady voice. I pointed upward to the only light bulb here, and he reached to switch it on, which took no effort since his head almost met the low ceiling. He then went over to the one window of the room and slid it open before going back for the boxes I was supposed to carry.

"No, I'll do tha—" I started but my head suddenly throbbed and it made me fall back to sit on the boxes. He sprinted over with the three boxes in one hand and placed them beside me.

"Don't move."

"But I have to work—"

"I said don't move." He stared at me with a look that took me back to my childhood. The look that told me "Don't disobey me" and "This is for your sake". Just like my father's. My eyes remained wide in shock as he stood up. I felt a big, warm palm on my head. "Don't force yourself."

A broken scoff escaped me. "Even if you say that, I can't just depend on others all the time."

"If you're in a bad position, you can," he said so firmly. Then it hit me. This was the first time I've heard anyone say that to me. That I can depend on others. I looked up to Mori-kun, who did something I've never seen him do. He smiled. A small smile with so much warmth that it seemed to seep right into me. He then ran out of the room, probably to tell others of my predicament. I bit my lower lip, trying to prevent the tears from spilling out. No one has made me felt this warm and safe for the longest time. Only Mori-kun did. But still, I've troubled him like this.

"Sorry…" I whispered to myself. Then, I remembered something a special person once said to me.

"_In times like these, you should say 'Thank you' instead of sorry."_

I smiled. "Thank you, Mori-kun."

(Kyouya's POV)

"Hmm…23 in this column, 11 there…" I murmured to myself as I counted the several bats there were in the baseball equipment room and listed them down. I had gone to the very center of the room, since the room was quite crowded with boxes and crates. Suddenly, I heard a rumbling of boxes a good distance from where I was standing. I was well away from the mountains of boxes in the room, so it clearly wasn't my doing. A little while later, I heard faint voices and footsteps approaching the room. I shouldn't be curious about trivial things like these, but I'm already here, so I might as well go see what's going on. I went to the right side of the room, still hidden behind the boxes, and I saw Mori-senpai searching the room. In front of him was a very familiar flock of red hair. _Miyori-senpai? _I moved the box in front of me slightly and I saw that my guess was right.

"Any lights?" Mori-senpai asked and Miyori-senpai pointed upward. Before I knew it, a weak yellow light flooded the room. I cringed at the sudden attack of light to my eyes. It gave me a little headache that when they started talking, I couldn't make out what they were saying. A while later, when my brain finally calmed down, I listened attentively to their discussion.

"Even if you say that, I can't just depend on others all the time," Miyori-senpai said.

"If you're in a bad position, you can," Mori-senpai replied and did something he very rarely did outside of Host Club activities. He smiled at her. Then, he fled out of the room, perhaps to tell the others.

After a while, I heard Miyori-senpai whisper something, and after a short pause, said in a firmer voice, "Thank you, Mori-kun."

_Interesting, _I contemplated. I went back to my previous work and silently counted the number of baseball mitts. I couldn't shake the feeling that what I just witnessed had a lot of potential to be something bigger, even something beneficial to me perhaps. I know full well that eavesdropping is a bad manner, but for once, I think I made a good decision this time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Blue

(Miyori's POV)

A multi-colored butterfly passed my sight as I walked along an old rusty railroad that stretched for miles and miles. I came to a stop when I saw a pure white pebble on the ground and picked it up with my little hands.

"Daddy, look!" I said with the voice of a child as I turned to my left. Dad was smiling proudly with those stern yet gentle eyes that I haven't seen for so long. The afternoon sunlight beamed on his face and gradually became brighter and brighter.

"Daddy! Daddy!" I cried as I watched him seem to slowly disappear into the blinding light.

_Ring! Ring!_

"Daddy!" I called for the last time. My teary eyes were staring wide open at my room's wooden ceiling. I checked the time on the wall clock and it was almost 10 in the morning. I definitely took my day off today as a chance to recover from the fatigue from yesterday. And now I'm here staring at the ceiling from having such an eerie dream. It brought me back to that day when Mom told me over the phone about Dad's accident.

_Ring! Ring!_

I snapped out of the memory I've always wanted to forget as I finally noticed my ringing phone. I flipped it open to see Rin's name and answered the call.

"Hey, you worthless president!" she yelled with her usual annoyed tone. "Stop sleeping and get your lazy ass over here! Your student council's got a problem with something I don't understand, and they keep pestering me about where you are!" Before I got to object about her calling me worthless and lazy, she hung up and the student council problem filled my head. I hurriedly changed into a shirt and jeans and rushed off after seeing Mom was asleep in her room. What could be the problem this time, I wondered. As I thought deeply into the possibilities, I suddenly remembered that dream. The last time I dreamt of Dad was the night after his burial, which was the first time I truly fell asleep since the accident. Something must have reminded me of Dad for this to happen. Or rather, someone. Morinozuka Takashi.

"_I said don't move." _He had that same mix of sternness and concern in his voice, much like when Dad would scold me after bruising myself from a whole day of playing. He had it too—that same look of calm admonishment. And those words.

"_If you're in a bad position, you can." _I'll never forget those words.

"Miyori-senpai!" a familiar voice called out to me as I felt a light pull from the hands that gripped my right arm. Finally snapping out, I halted just in time to see a black car whiz by just mere centimeters in front of me. I looked up at the traffic lights ahead and saw that it was still red. I turned to my life saver and smiled.

"What do you think you were doing, senpai? You almost killed yourself!" Kazumi said with her customary pout as she stared at me with worry.

I giggled apologetically, scratching the back of my head. "My bad. I was just thinking too much. Thanks for the save!" She just chuckled back, accustomed to my behaviour of thinking too deeply. Minato Kazumi, the second year who I befriended during her freshman year, the pure girl who came crying to me in the middle of a student council meeting the first time we met because she couldn't find the music room, just saved me from getting myself killed for being deep in my own thoughts. I always valued that about her. She was straightforward, headstrong, playful, and as pure and innocent as a child. She said and did whatever was in her heart, and I found that enviously lovable.

"So, where ya off to, senpai? Isn't it vacation?" she asked as we waited for the lights to go green.

"School. And I should be asking you that. Where are you going?"

"I was planning on going to that cake shop you work at to pay you a little visit, but since you're here, I might as well just tag along! But why are you going to school in the middle of vacation, senpai?"

"Student council work, remember?" The lights finally went green. "Let's hurry!" I grabbed Kazumi's hand and sprinted off across the street.

"Wuh-wait! Slow down, senpai!" Kazumi managed to say between labored breaths.

"Oh, sorry." I slowed down upon remembering that my normal pace is a high speed sprint for others.

"Why are we in a hurry again?"

"Rin said the student council has a problem."

"Oh, okay. Understood! Just a sec, senpai." I let go of her hand and she took off her sandals and slipped on a pair of slippers she took out from the paper bag she was carrying. "Alright, let's go!"

A few minutes later, we finally got to the student council room. There was no sight of any of the members, but the Host Club was there, plus Rin. We were met with sullen faces as they sat around the room's long table.

"What's the problem? Supplies, money, complaints, what?" I asked hurriedly. No one dared to answer. Then, I saw a smile play on Kyouya's face as he pushed up his glasses.

"Just kidding." As soon as he said that, everyone burts into laughter and guffaws, especially Rin. Even Mori-kun couldn't suppress a giggle, though it lasted too short for anyone else to notice.

"You actually fell for it! You _are _an idiot!" Rin jeered between laughed.

"Ugh, you guys. And I ran so fast, too," I said with a defeated sigh and slowly joined in the mirth. Soon, the laughter died down and their attention was drawn to the new face I had brought along.

"Oh, and who might this princess be?" spoke Tamaki as he sauntered towards Kazumi while pulling a red rose out of nowhere. "My, it is an honor to meet such a fair beauty!" he said as he gave the rose to a confused Kazumi and caressed her hands in the process. Suddenly, a fist landed on Tamaki's head. I totally saw it coming. I knew Rin could never stand watching Tamaki do this rosy lovey-dovey shindig around her. With that, I presumed Rin has already been introduced to the Host Club.

"Great. Now cut the crap and get out of my way. Stay away and don't harass my friend ever again." Rin scowled as she shoved Tamaki out of Kazumi's sight.

"Yay! Rin-senpai! Long time no see!" Kazumi shrilled as she snuggled Rin, something only she can do because Rin can never bring herself to hurt her. "So, who are all these people?" Rin started introducing the Host Club members.

"She could have just let me introduce myself to the new kid and said 'Excuse me' afterwards…" Tamaki murmured in his emo corner, drawing imaginary circles on the floor.

"That's because you were in Rin-senpai's way," Haruhi stated, sending an invisible lightning rod to Tamaki.

"Eh? Rin-senpai actually has a cute friend, after all?" the twins chorused innocently.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" Rin snarled. The twins yelped as Rin faced them with eyes of a demon ready to devour them.

"Stop it, Rin, you'll scare the children. Oh, wait. You're a child, too. Go ahead then," I teased as I put my hand over her head, which was at elbow level.

"What did you say, idiot?!" She threw her fists angrily at me, which was to no avail when I stretched my arm to keep her a good distance away from me. My smirk only grew wider as I inwardly commented how cute she is whenever she's like this. And Rin never likes to be called cute.

"Aren't you Yukito Kazumi?" We immediately stopped bickering as we turned to Kyouya, who wrote something on his mysterious notepad thingy.

"Eh? _The _Yukito Kazumi?" Tamaki asked as he stared disbelievingly at a bewildered Kazumi.

"Yeah, she does look like her, right?" one of the Hitachiins turned to the other, who just nodded in reply.

"The Yukito family is closely on par with Tama-chan and Kyou-chan's in wealth and influence, right Takashi?" Hunny chimed as he looked up to Mori-kun, who replied with his usual nod. No wonder the name sounded familiar. Yukito Kazumi is the only daughter and heir of the Yukito businesses, one of the richest and most powerful business groups whose businesses range from resorts and hotels to just about anything you can name.

"Huh? What? Who's that?" Kazumi asked, puzzled and shocked.

I eyed them incredulously. "What are you guys talking about? My friend is _Minato _Kazumi, not Yukito. She can't possibly be that rich girl. She's lived in the countryside with her grandparents her whole life, which is why she was so naïve back when she first moved here with her aunt and uncle. She doesn't even act or speak like a rich girl. But she can be as smart as you guys, I'll give you that," I explained. But it seemed like they still wouldn't budge, especially Kyouya. He stopped writing and took something out of his notepad.

"This picture wouldn't lie." He handed over a picture of Yukito Kazumi. One of the twins took it and held it next to Kazumi.

"They do kinda look alike!" Tamaki exclaimed.

Kazumi turned to see the picture beside her. "What? No we don't. She has weird blonde hair that almost looks white. Mine is brown, see?" She holds up a lock of her hair. "And even though we do have the same eye color, she has such weak-looking eyes that makes her look so sleepy. And look, she has no moles on her face, but I have one!" She pointed at the mole under the edge of her left eye.

"You're right," Tamaki answered.

"Short, messy hair…"

"…makeup-less face…"

"…plain commoner outfit…"

"…less-than-mediocre footwear choices."

"Definitely not Yukito Kazumi," the twins concluded.

"I get it! Sorry for being so unfashionable, rich city people!" Kazumi said with that pout of hers, which made me giggle. There was a lull in the conversation so I took the chance to go over to Mori-kun and thank him properly for yesterday.

"Yo!" I said with a smile and he acknowledged me with a nod. Then, when his eyes met mine, my head suddenly went blank. I wasn't sure why my heart was thumping louder in my ears, but maybe it was because I was nervous. But why would I be nervous? Is it because I owed him a lot yesterday? Or maybe because I'm embarrassed for how I acted? Or…

"What is it?" he asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Ah…er…" I stuttered. Okay, first I get nervous, and now I'm stuttering. What is happening to me? "Uh, I forgot to thank you for yesterday so, um, thanks!" I cringed when I heard the awkward laughter that escaped me. God, I probably look like an idiot right now.

"You're welcome," was his simple reply. He looked at me strangely, like he was totally noticing how weird I was acting. So, I forced a grin and went over to the people huddling around Kazumi, asking her more questions to get to know her.

"So, what's up? Why did you guys suddenly call me here?" I asked them. I noticed Rin turning towards a window with a scowl and…was she blushing? "Did something happen yesterday?"

"Hunny-senpai and Rin-senpai had a kendo duel yesterday," said Haruhi.

I turned to Rin with a glare. "Really, Rin?" Of all people, she just had to pick a fight with the even someone as adorable as Hunny-kun. But then again, Rin has always hated cute things.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" she protested. "This annoying sugar-high kid knocked me over when I was getting out of the classroom!"

"I said I was sorry!" Hunny-kun pouted cutely. "I was waving goodbye to Hika-chan and Kao-chan, that's why I didn't see you. And I even offered you some cake…" He snuggled his face into his pink bunny.

"Well I don't like cake! I would've preferred your head on a silver platter!"

"Hey, Rin! Watch your mouth!" I scolded.

"This ain't any of your business!"

"Yes it is!" I crossed my arms. "First of all, you are my classmate. Second, I am this school's student council president so it's my duty to make sure everyone in the student body is not misbehaving. Now, apologize to him."

"Tch. Sorry's not in my vocabulary."

"Ugh, whatever," I groaned in frustration, then turned to Haruhi. "So let me guess. Rin made Hunny-kun get her something if he lost."

"The skull of a national hero in a foreign land," Rin cut in. I just stared at her in disbelief. Sadistic as always.

"And if Hunny-kun won?"

"Rin-senpai must go on a trip to the amusement park with us!" Tamaki and the twins cheered.

"And since it's pretty clear that Hunny-kun won, I'm guessing you called me here because I'll be going too, huh, Kyouya-kun?"

The shadow king nodded and flipped open his notepad. "When are you free, senpai?"

"Well, it's still a weekend tomorrow so I'd still be free."

"Wow, that sure sounds fun! Can I go too, senpais? Can I? Can I?" asked Kazumi with her wide eager eyes as she bounced up and down like a bunny beside me.

"Aww, of course you can!" I said as I patted her hair. "Right, Kyouya-kun?"

"Of course," he said as he made the same face he did when he negotiated with, or rather blackmailed, me a few days ago.

"Are you planning something, Mommy?" Tamaki queried. As expected of Kyouya's best friend.

"Indeed I am." Kyouya took out a cardboard box filled with little pieces of folded paper and placed it on the center table. "To make our trip more interesting, I suggest each of us draw lots for a ride we have to get on while we're there."

"And if we don't ride it?" the twins asked.

"There will be a corresponding punishment ride, which will be far worse than your compulsory ride. Remember, I know all your fears and weaknesses, and I've done my research on the amusement park we'll be going to." His glasses gave off a demonic glare, which made me gulp in fear. He had probably noticed my fear of heights yesterday when I was asked to get a box from the top of a tall drawer and I attempted to do it before backing down and asking someone else to get it. Yikes. This dude just _knows _everything.

Nevertheless, this seemed like a nice plan, so I prompted everyone to line up, with me leading it. I drew a piece of paper from the box and Kyouya immediately intercepted it, saying that we can't see it yet and he will call us later to inform what ride we got. When we asked why, he just said that it would make things even more exciting. Everyone just seemed to take his word for it, so I just shrugged and went along with it.

After everyone had drawn from the box and finished up small talk, we all headed home. But even as I walked up the path to our house, I couldn't get my mind off the way I acted around Mori-kun today. What was the matter with me? I've always been able to talk to all kinds of people with no problem at all, so what was that back there? I patted my cheeks fiercely and shook my head. Whatever that was, it won't happen again. That's right, I'm gonna be my normal self around him tomorrow, so that I can also enjoy our little outing. Summer has just started, so I have to enjoy it as much as I can.

(Mori's POV)

"I can't wait for tomorrow~!" my ecstatic cousin exclaimed as we walked to our apartment building. "Today sure was fun, right Takashi?"

"Yeah," I replied, because it really was. That little prank they pulled on Miyori made it hard for even me to suppress a little laugh. I've been successfully suppressing laughter ever since I entered the crazy world of the Host Club, but this was the first time I failed to do so, which was unusual. Speaking of unusual, Miyori acted strange today. She seemed rather nervous, and I wondered why as Mitsukuni and I boarded the elevator to our floor and went to our respective rooms.

"Brush your teeth, Mitsukuni," I told him before he shut the door.

"Okay! Good night, Takashi~!" he replied. I nodded and went into my room. Just after I changed my clothes, my phone rang. It was Kyouya.

"Good evening, Mori-senpai. The rendezvous will be a coffee shop right in front of this store," he told me and I wrote down the store's long name. "Please be there by 7:30am or so. That would be all. Goodbye then, Mori-senpai." And the call ended. My next thought was going to Mitsukuni to make sure he knew about it, but my instincts told me that he was now asleep, so I decided against it. So I got ready for bed and went to sleep with the smallest feeling of excitement for tomorrow.

(Kyouya's POV)

"Hello, Miyori-senpai. It's me, Kyouya," I said over the phone after a while of waiting for her to pick up.

"Ah, Kyouya-kun! How'd you get my number?" she asked.

"Rin-senpai gave it to me."

"So, where do we all meet tomorrow?" To answer her question, I told her the same place that I told Mori-senpai, as well as the same time of arrival. She promptly thanked me and bid goodbye, and like that, the last phone call for the night was over. I surely owe Hunny-senpai and Rin-senpai for this, for if it wasn't for them, this big of an opportunity wouldn't have happened.

They might think that they were just choosing their compulsory rides but it's actually more than that. I decided for all of us to be grouped in pairs for tomorrow, and to meet in different places before going to the amusement park. To determine the pairings, I made them draw lots for their compulsory rides, and whichever two people got the same ride make a pair. Luck must've been on my side, because everything went according to plan. Mori-senpai and Miyori-senpai were paired, and the other pairs were Tamaki and Haruhi, Hunny-senpai and Rin-senpai, the Hitachiin twins, and me and Kazumi. I just finished informing each pair about their own meeting places. I made sure to inform Mori-senpai at a time when Hunny-senpai was sure to be asleep, and told him to go there at a time with the same precaution in mind. That way, Mori-senpai will not be given a chance to inform his cousin of his meeting place and the plan will go smoothly. I decided at the last minute to separate Hikaru and Kaoru tomorrow, simply because it seems more interesting that way. I gave Kaoru a different place and time back in school when Hikaru went to get a drink. I was sure the only thing they'd ask each other is if they knew the place and time and naturally, they'd just say yes and proceed to talk about trivial things.

Being paired with that Kazumi girl also seemed to be a good thing since I'll get the chance to observe her more closely. There was still something about her that bothered me even after Miyori-senpai's explanation, and I'm finding out exactly what it is. Well, I just hope everything goes as planned, especially with Mori-senpai and Miyori-senpai. If she thinks she's won against me, then she's dead wrong.

"Just you wait, Miyori-senpai."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Bluer

(Mori's POV)

7:30 am. I arrived just in time. I breathed in the fresh morning air as I stood outside the appointed meeting place. Normally, I would be in kendo practice by now, but I guess this is how summer should be—escaping the monotonous flow of daily life. I still wasn't sure if going here without Mitsukuni was the right choice, though. Just minutes ago, I stood in front of his door, torn between waking him up or going to the meeting place first. But knowing my cousin's destructive demeanor when awoken from his slumber, I decided to head off without him. For sure, Kyouya would have informed him. This is Kyouya we're talking about; he wouldn't forget something this important.

The coffee shop started to open and the workers began setting up the tables outside. I took a seat in one of the chairs as I continued to wait for the others. It's rare for them to be this late, especially Tamaki. He would always be the earliest one to arrive, usually around an hour ahead of time. But 8 minutes passed, and not one Host Club member showed up.

"Mori-kun!" called Miyori's voice. I turned to her, and saw that she was running very fast towards me. Huh, I guess she isn't a national track and field champion for nothing. "Sorry I'm late!" she said as she halted in front of me.

"No, it's okay," I told her as she sat down next to me. I noted how simple her attire was—or maybe I'm just used to being surrounded by rich girls with fancy designer clothes so maybe this is just how normal people dress. Yet her loose white shirt tucked into a pair of faded blue jeans still somehow came off as stylish. And the way the jeans hugged her form and the belt that held them in place around her small waist even made her look…sexy. Which is weird for me to think because I never found any girl sexy before, especially not someone I just met a few days ago, so I shook off the inappropriate thoughts immediately.

"Mori-kun?" she asked me, and only then did I notice that I was staring at her the whole time. "Where are the others? It's almost eight and there's still no sign of them. I merely shrugged at the question, since I also didn't know the answer. Suddenly, a ringtone filled the air and Miyori took out her phone to answer it.

"Hello, Kyouya-kun? Where are you guys?" she inquired over the phone. "Eh, you're already there?" I knew it. They probably went ahead because Tamaki couldn't wait any longer and figured I would be fine since I have someone who knows this town with me. "Okay then, we're heading there!" With that, she hung up and turned to me with a bashful smile. "Seems like we got left behind. We better get going, then! We don't want to miss the fun!"

Flashing a sunny smile, she grabbed a sleeve of my jacket and lead the way, though I wasn't sure where we were headed. "We're going to a bus stop. The amusement park's a bit far from here."

Before I knew it, we arrived at a waiting shed where several other people waited. In about 5 minutes, a bus arrived and we got on. I let Miyori sit first, then took my place beside her. She looked outside through the window and grinned excitedly, and I couldn't help but smile at her. Then, I saw a middle-aged woman boarding the bus and it seemed like she was struggling with her grocery bags. I looked around the bus, and there were no seats left. Since nobody seemed willing to help, I stood up, offered her my seat, and carried her bags to it. I crouched a bit as my head was gonna hit the bus' low ceiling. I watched as another passenger boarded the bus and grabbed on to those triangular things hanging on the rail attached to the ceiling. So I followed suit and struggled to keep my balance when the bus started running, but I quickly got the hang of it.

"My, my, thank you so much, young lad!" said the woman. I nodded back and used my Host Smile to show that it was perfectly fine with me. "I just finished grocery shopping for this month and I had to visit an old friend along the way so I'm pretty tired. You really helped me out. Thank you so much!"

"That's right, Mori-kun. It was great of you to help Kirihara-san!" Miyori cut in. The woman, who was called Kirihara-san, turned to her in shock.

"Oh, Miyori-chan! Sorry I didn't recognize you right away! You've grown so much!" They seemed to know each other very well.

"It's okay, Kirihara-san. So, how's Akaya-kun doing? He's now in his last year of elementary, right?"

"Ah yes, yes. His studies are going well. How's your mother?"

"Oh, she's fine. Getting stronger every day!"

"Well, that's very good to hear! I'll be giving you and your mom some watermelons next week. Those would be good for her! You're in your last year of high school, right?" After Kirihara-san said that, I zoned out. Why was she asking only about Miyori's mom? What about her dad? And the way they talked about her mother, it's like she was sick or something.

"Oh, right. Miyori-chan, you know this young man?" Kirihara-san asked as they both turned to me.

"Yup, he's a friend of mine."

"My, my, is he your boyfriend perhaps?" I froze. B-boyfriend?

"Eh? N-no! We're just friends, really!" Miyori gave a nervous but light-hearted laugh. "Right, Mori-kun?"

I nodded as I did my best poker face. Well, this is awkward. There's no telling how Kirihara-san came to that conclusion. I've always been used to being mistaken as a brother or a body guard whenever I'm with a girl, but this is a first. Maybe it's because we're going somewhere with just the two of us. Yeah, maybe that's it. But though this incident is quite strange, what's stranger is the way I'm acting today. Why did I get embarrassed when Kirihara-san said that? Normally, I would remain totally unaffected by such remarks. And come to think of it, the fact that I'm even still thinking about this right now is even stranger.

I decided to divert my attention to the people and the city outside. I looked around until my eyes landed on the driver. Soon enough, I found myself wondering what his daily life must be like until the bus lurched to a stop. Kirihara-san rose from her seat and bid us goodbye, but I helped carry her bags until she got down.

"Thank you again, Mori-kun. Until we meet again!" she said smilingly as she carried her groceries and walked off. When I turned around to get back on the bus, Miyori was already departing it.

"This is our stop, too. Now come on, let's go to the amusement park!" Again, she grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and sprinted to the left. I just followed her, and it took a little effort for me to catch up to her speed.

Soon we arrived and, just as I expected, the amusement park was crawling with children and families. Surprisingly, there were lots of rides to choose from. There were also a lot of little stalls and booths, offering various things like games, food, future telling, and more. There were also peddlers roaming around, selling balloons, sweets, and the like. An unfamiliar band was performing on the stage at the very center of the park, where a handful of people gathered to watch them.

"Ahh, I'm so excited!" Miyori exclaimed. "But first, we must find the others. We still don't know what we should ride yet, too." Oh, right. It escaped me that Kyouya forgot to tell me what ride I'm supposed to go on today. "Where do you think we could find them?"

"Ice cream," I said, remembering our last trip to the supermarket where we accidentally left a sleepy Kyouya all alone on a random bench. We had decided to follow Mitsukuni's pleas for ice cream back then, so I guessed it would be the same this time. Though they've probably went their own ways by now, since they've been for about an hour now.

"Oh, I know where the nearest ice cream shop is! Follow me!" Miyori ran to the right as I followed closely, carefully dodging the throng of people and children along the way. Suddenly, I remembered. Mitsukuni was still asleep when I left, so he couldn't possibly be here by now. Worse, he might still be there at the meeting place—scared, hungry, and waiting all alone for us. He probably doesn't even know we're already here. And even if he knew, finding his way here wouldn't be easy for him. Still running closely behind Miyori, I pulled out my phone and dialled him. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Mitsukuni, where are you?" I asked immediately.

"Ah, Takashi~! I should be asking you that! I'm here at the amusement park, but I can't see you guys anywhere!" he replied.

"We're here now, and I'm looking for you."

"Well, we're here at—" There was some buffering and noise from the other end, plus a random "Hurry up!" shouted by someone from beside him. "Sorry Takashi, I'll call you later!" And with that, he hung up. I sighed. There was no telling where he was. I noticed Miyori slowing down until she came to a stop. I halted as well, confused as to why she was stopping.

"No use?" she asked. I shook my head in dismay. _Did she hear my call with Mitsukuni? _"I understand you're probably really worried right now, so I'll call Kyouya-kun."

"Kyouya-kun?" she said over the phone. "We're here at the amusement park. Any idea where Hunny-kun is?" A short while later, the call ended and she turned to me. "He said he's also looking for him and the others right now. Seems they all got separated somehow."

My worry grew. What if that kidnapping accident happens again and no one's there to save him this time? Or what if he finds a cake shop and runs out of money? Or what if he gets on a ride and that ride crashes and he gets into a big accident? I tried to calm myself by remembering that Mitsukuni would've learned from that incident and would never let his guard down again. But I still can't help thinking that if ever something terrible were to happen to him today, it will be all my fault for not checking on him soon enough.

Suddenly, a warm hand touched my shoulder and I locked eyes with Miyori, who smiled at me reassuringly.

"Don't worry. He will be alright. We both know he's strong. And if there's an emergency, there will be tons of people around to help him. Also, I bet Hunny-kun is smart enough to see through con artists and swindlers. And if push comes to shove, I know he's strong enough to fight them off!" She said it with eyes so sure that it didn't sound like she was being careless or just saying that to make me feel better. It gave me the impression that she had a lot of faith in Mitsukuni.

Suddenly, it dawned on me that all this time, I might have lost faith in him. I'm always worrying too much about him these days that I have forgotten who Haninozuka Mitsukuni really is. I have forgotten how much stronger he actually is than I am. Finally, I began to feel a little lighter. Miyori's right, it's about time I realized that Mitsukuni can handle himself. I'm not letting my guard down, but I'm not losing faith in him again.

Miyori's shoulders relaxed along with mine. "Now that you've calmed down, I suggest we go ride our compulsory ride, which is the water slide!" she said enthusiastically as she pointed at the ride. "Kyouya-kun said that the logo of this amusement park will be stamped on our tickets once we've finished the ride, and we get to keep them." Huh, I guess Kyouya really did plan everything through.

We lined up for the ride and soon, it was finally our turn. So far, this would be my 38th commoner first, which makes it hard to believe that summer only started four days ago.

(Kyouya's POV)

It's been a while since Miyori-senpai's call, where she asked me about Hunny-senpai's whereabouts. I just replied with the lie I've been using to each person who asked me where the others are. I would simply tell them that I'm looking for everyone else too, and then suggest that they go on their compulsory ride for the meantime. For the plan to work perfectly, Mori-senpai and Miyori-senpai must not meet anybody else until this afternoon when we'll all meet up to gather proof that we rode our rides. Hopefully, they won't find Hunny-senpai or anyone else a little longer. Nevertheless, at least Phase 1 is going well. I smirked as I push my glasses up.

"I'm not called an Ootori for nothing, Miyori-senpai."

(Miyori's POV)

"Woohoo! That was awesome!" I yelled as I plopped down the bench beside Mori-kun. "Man, I really thought that ride was gonna drench me but I never knew they let us wear those waterproof suits." I turned my eyes to Mori-kun, who had his usual poker face on, but somehow I could tell that something was on his mind. I tried to distract him by asking him if it was his first time riding it too, but he just nodded, the worry on his face not dissipating one bit. He can't get Hunny-kun off his mind after all.

"Why don't you call him?" I said and he turned to me with what seemed like shock because I could tell that he was worried. He grabbed his phone and dialled Hunny-kun, but gave me the smallest glance of appreciation first. Mori-kun's been acting strange today, ever since this morning at the coffee shop. He was staring at me way too long that I almost lost my cool. And then there was the bus ride.

"_My, my, is he your boyfriend, perhaps?" _I shook my head. Why did I suddenly remember that? Really though, of all things Kirihara-san could've mistaken Mori-kun for, why did it have to be a boyfriend? Great, now my heart's beating fast again, just like when he and I had that awkward conversation yesterday. Assuming I just need a drink because of the heat rising to my cheeks, I stood up in one sudden motion. Mori-kun eyed me with confusion.

"I-I'll go get something to drink," I told him, immediately dashing off. What is happening to me? This isn't like me at all! In fact, this is starting to become a repeat of yesterday. And I can't have that because not only will I fail to enjoy this day, but Mori-kun as well.

I bumped into someone and halted as I apologized. When I looked around, Mori-kun was already out of sight. How long was I absorbed in my thoughts? I looked around for a vending machine and bought two cans of softdrinks once I found one. After taking a few gulps of the carbonated fizz, I headed back to where Mori-kun was. I had calmed down, but apparently, Mori-kun hasn't. In fact, he seemed ten times more worried.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"Mitsukuni's not answering. Either his phone's battery is empty or he's in serious trouble." The look in his eyes when he said that told me that he believed in the latter. I instantly phoned Kyouya-kun and Kazumi-chan, but neither of them answered. I also phoned Rin, but then I remembered that she usually doesn't bring her phone around. There was no one we could ask for some help in finding Hunny-kun, and honestly, it was starting to worry me too. _Ah, that's right!_

"Mori-kun, I have an idea! Why don't we go to all the booths and rides and ask them if they've seen Hunny-kun? If we do it fast, we may be able to find him!" I gave my voice a forced cheerfulness, trying to lighten Mori-kun's mood. To my surprise, he nodded and we started immediately. We went to all the major rides first, asking the operators if they've seen Hunny-kun, describing him over and over again, but all we got was a no. Next we tried the booths, but still nothing. I guess our task is harder than I thought, because Hunny-kun looks just like a kid, and this place is overflowing with them, so I understand if the operators and booth owners can't remember every kid they see.

At one point, my stomach grumbled so loudly that I can still hear it even with all the noise around me. I checked my watch and it was already 12:30.

"Mori-kun, aren't you hungry yet?" I asked him as we went to sit on a bench, though I could tell he was too worried to even think about food right now. "Mori-kun, skipping meals is not good for you. I understand you're worried. In fact, I'm as worried as you are. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't take care of yourself."

"Go. I'll look for Mitsukuni in the meantime," he told me a bit coldly as he stood up and started walking again.

I caught up with him, matching his frantic pace. "But what about you?" All of a sudden, he faced me with a look I never imagined would be on his face—rage.

"I don't care what happens to me! I'm more worried about Mitsukuni right now so if you're not worried, you can go by yourself!" His voice was loud but low and frightening. Before I knew it, tears started to form in my eyes. I didn't even understand what I felt at the moment. I was scared, hurt, and angry all at the same time, because he didn't understand.

"I'm telling you this not because I'm not worried about him but because I'm worried about _you_, too!" I yelled as a single tear fell without my knowledge. I wiped it away furiously and stared at the ground, heaving in a deep breath, trying to control myself to prevent more tears from falling. When I was sure, I was in control even just a tiniest bit, I looked up to him. But unexpectedly, my eyes didn't meet his straight away, because he was bowing to me.

"I'm sorry, Miyori. I take back all that I said," he said solemnly, loud enough for just me to hear. "I'll go with you to eat. That is, if you still want to."

"G-get up, silly!" A surprised laugh escaped me as I grabbed his shoulder to push him upright. "Of course I still want to. Also, someone like you really shouldn't be bowing down to a commoner like me." I noticed a few people staring at us, so I immediately pushed through the crowd and pulled him along for the nearest fast food place, just to escape their judgments of whatever just happened. Well, whatever that was, I'm probably never gonna forget it.

(Mori's POV)

"You almost caused a commotion back there!" Miyori said as we sat across each other in the fast food store. "Don't ever do that again, okay?" she said with a laugh as I just nodded. It was worth it though, to do something like that just to earn her forgiveness. I really said some harsh things to her, and I didn't even have the right to be angry at her just because she was worried about me. So I had to make it up to her somehow.

"Miyori, is there a ride you'd like to go on?" I asked her. She almost choked on her drink as she turned to me wide-eyed. I guess this is more of a surprise to her than I thought.

After a few moments, she grinned widely and her eyes sparkled. "Really? Can I?" she asked excitedly and I nodded. "With you?" I nodded again. "But we still have to find Hunny-kun. Is it really okay?" Again, I nodded and as soon as we finished eating, she grabbed my hand and dashed out the store, dragging me along. It was a little funny how she tried so hard to contain her excitement but just like a little kid, she couldn't help but show it. She first suggested the roller coaster, and before I knew it, we had gone on almost all the rides in the park. It was clear she was having fun but surprisingly, I felt that I had fun as well.

"Wow, that was awesome!" she exclaimed as we walked along a line of stores selling all kinds of stuff in a place that looked like a small boutique. Suddenly, she stopped in front of a sports store and stood agape at a pair of sports shoes on display.

"Those are the shoes I've been looking for!" She immediately dragged me into the shop with her. But just as she was about to get it, another hand reached for it as well.

"Hey, I saw it first. Move!" said a woman who looked about our age and had a toned body. She seemed to be an athlete too.

"But you just entered!" Miyori retorted.

"Whatever. I'm taking these shoes. Besides, you and your limpy legs don't deserve them anyway."

Miyori looked infuriated. "Excuse me, but yours look limpier than mine."

The woman started to look pissed as well. "What did you just say?"

"Prove it then. That you're stronger than me."

"You probably don't know who I am, do you? I'm a regional track and field champion." Yeah, and Miyori's a national champion. Nice try.

"I don't care. Let's have a race now, then." Miyori smirked.

"Okay." And just like that, they dashed off and vanished. I ran as well to catch up to them. Well, this will be interesting.

_A/N: A quick shoutout to everyone who faved and followed this story! And also to everyone that has given the time to read this. I honestly didn't expect anyone to still read this since it's by novice-writer me, so I just want you all to know that I appreciate it so much and it keeps me going with this. ^_^_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Bluest

(Haruhi's POV)

"Nooo! I failed again!" shrieked Tamaki-senpai as he watched a small teddy bear fall from the clutches of metal claws. I sighed. He's been at that game for almost an hour now, and this is his 21st try already.

"No one ever wins from these things, senpai. Especially not new," I told him just to remind him that he's still new to all this, but my blunt words sent him to his emo corner once again. Looking for something interesting, I turned to my right and saw a familiar bunch of red-orange hair in the midst of the crowd.

"There you guys are! I was looking all over for you!" Kaoru called out as he ran towards us. It took all of us almost the whole day to assemble. Now we're almost complete. Only Mori-senpai and Miyori-senpai left. Hunny-senpai's been worried and frantic about the absence of his cousin, but since we all met up, we managed to calm him down. But he would still look around once in a while, hoping to see Mori-senpai somewhere in the crowd.

"Takashi!" Hunny-senpai suddenly shouted in joy, his huge smile reaching his ears. We turned to the direction he was looking at and indeed, it was Mori-senpai, with Miyori-senpai beside him. But his voice didn't reach them because of the crowd and our distance from them.

"Hmm, they're getting along quite well," Kyouya-senpai commented, which seemed to perk up the twins' interest, as well as Tamaki-senpai's. With them grinning knowingly and mischievously at each other, I could almost read what was in their minds. My, my.

"Let's go take a peek at the series of events, shall we?" Tamaki-senpai said schemingly, motioning us to follow him and before I knew it, we were inside the sports shop that the two senpais entered. The store attendants cast wary glances at our weird actions and it was at times like these that I had to remind myself why I hang out with these people. I expected Hunny-senpai to oppose to this since all he probably wants right now is to be with his cousin after a whole day of being separated from him, but it seemed he was just as interested in what's going on between his cousin and Miyori-senpai. If there is something going on, that is.

We hid behind shelves, making sure we were hidden but still being able to see what's going on. Miyori-senpai had gotten into an argument for a pair of shoes with a haughty girl who seemed to be an athlete too. She even so snobbishly declared that she was a regional track and field champion and accused Miyori-senpai of not knowing her place, even though it was actually otherwise.

"I don't care. Let's have a race now, then," Miyori-senpai told her daringly.

"Okay." As soon as the girl replied, the two runners disappeared as they ran out the store. Mori-senpai followed them immediately.

"Quickly! We must not lose sight of them!" Tamaki-senpai commanded as he led us. Soon enough, he was overtaken by the faster ones in the group, which were Hunny-senpai and Rin-senpai, the latter seeming to be making a competition out of this with how she eyed Hunny-senpai with so much killing intent. The three that ran off before us were so fast that the only lead we had of them was Mori-senpai's head. Thank goodness he's tall.

"Hunny-senpai," Kyouya-senpai spoke as we ran. "It's best you call Mori-senpai, so that he won't come looking for us just yet. Tell him you're with us eating cakes and going on more rides afterwards."

Hunny-senpai did as he was told, maintaining such a steady voice throughout the call that it didn't sound like he was running at all. As expected of the strongest martial artist.

We ran and ran after them until we reached a huge running track that I never even knew existed. There were several people running around or just sitting on the benches surrounding the track. These benches were shaded by cherry blossom trees that also framed the track.

Miyori-senpai and that girl were already in their places when suddenly, Miyori-senpai turned around to wave at Mori-senpai. She was looking almost to our direction so we quickly hid in some bushes near an empty bench.

"Sorry but can we have a little match?" she shouted and Mori-senpai just nodded in reply. Hollering back a quick thanks, she went back in place. Her challenger was already drenched in sweat and seemed as tired as we were, but Miyori-senpai looked like she just woke up and hasn't moved a muscle yet. They'd asked another runner to serve as their referee, and as soon as that guy said go, they sped off. Soon, we observed that the girl was leading a huge gap.

"Hey hey, this is bad. It looks like Miyori-senpai's gonna lose," Hikaru whispered to his twin while they looked on worriedly.

"Wait and see," Rin-senpai replied to them, watching her best friend with eyes as knowing and as calculating as Kyouya-senpai and Kazumi's were. When I turned my attention back to the race, I couldn't help but gasp. Miyori-senpai was already leading! And I took my eyes off her for, what, 5 seconds or so? There was such a huge gap between her and the girl that when she reached the finish line, Miyori-senpai was already seated on the ground, resting from a short-lived battle. Wow. So this was _the _Furisaki Miyori.

And it seemed that the girl finally realized this, seeing as she was bowing down to Miyori-senpai. But she just laid a hand on the girl's shoulder, and told her something that left the girl very determined and inspired.

"That just now was Miyori-senpai's sure-win technique," Kazumi said proudly with her voice audibly toned down. "She lets her opponents run as fast as they can first to measure their speed, then she uses her full speed to overtake them towards the finish line. And the best thing is, no matter what level her opponent is, she always uses her full speed. She never lets her guard down." I agree it's quite an effective technique, though it sounds pretty tricky, so I bet it takes a lot of talent and skill to pull it off. And Miyori-senpai clearly has a lot of that.

"Something's wrong," Rin-senpai said as we watched Miyori-senpai walk to where Mori-senpai was. She did look fine at first, but after several steps, she cringed and knelt to the ground in pain upon stepping with her left foot. Mori-senpai went to her in a flash, flung her shoulder over his broad ones, and helped her up. Miyori-senpai protested a bit, but as soon as Mori-senpai held her hip to support her more, she was instantly silenced and, she's blushing? My, my.

"Ah, indeed Mori-senpai has learned a lot from me about charm and romance!" Tamaki-senpai proclaimed. Sigh. Here we go again.

"Mori-senpai's more romantic than you, you know," I quipped, sending him in shock.

"M-my daughter, just what do you mean by that…?" he said with tears in his eyes. What? Was it supposed to mean anything else?

"It's exactly as I said." My blunt reply sent an imaginary bolt of lightning down on him. The twins snickered evilly beside him as they watched his demise, which I didn't understand at all. Rin-senpai also wore a devilish smile, and Hunny-senpai and Kazumi watched the events unfolding with attentive eyes. Kyouya-senpai was, as usual, writing stuff in that mysterious notepad thingy.

Mori-senpai led Miyori-senpai to the bench near us, which was good since we can hear them perfectly.

"Sorry for the trouble," Miyori-senpai said.

"It's okay," Mori-senpai answered as he knelt over her injured foot to examine it. "How did you sprain it?"

She scratched the back of her head apologetically. "Heh, it seems I lost my rhythm a bit when I used my full speed back there. But, um, thanks." She smiled and surprisingly, Mori-senpai smiled back. It was rare to see him do that outside of club activities and without Hunny-senpai's company.

Miyori-senpai looked up all of a sudden, as if remembering something. "Wait, aren't we supposed to look for Hunny-kun?"

"Let's get this healed first." Wow. This is literally the first time I've seen Mori-senpai prioritize someone else more than Hunny-senpai.

"Eh, but—"

"He called a while ago and told me he was eating cake with Rin and they found everyone a while earlier."

Rin-senpai immediately shot a glare at Hunny-senpai, but before she could burst into a fit, Tamaki-senpai and the twins held her back with all their strength just to keep our cover.

"Why did you tell him that, Hunny-senpai?" I whispered, recalling that that piece of information wasn't in Kyouya-senpai's orders.

Hunny-senpai also lowered his voice. "Tehehe, I just wanted to see Rin-chan's reaction. She's very funny when she's all pissed off~!" he said sweetly with that innocent face as he hugged Usa-chan. F-funny? He's calling Rin-senpai's anger _funny? _And didn't she hate it when someone calls her Rin-chan? I sweat-dropped as Rin-senpai screamed her violent retorts, muffled by Tamaki-senpai's hand covering her mouth.

"With Rin?" Miyori-senpai exclaimed in disbelief. That would be quite an unusual scene. Rin-senpai had seemed to calm down so they let her go, and she just continued to mutter her complaints to herself.

"Yes. He also told me that I can do anything I want at the moment because he still wants to go on rides with everyone," Mori-senpai replied.

"And he's alright being with Rin? She can be such a pain to be with."

"Mitsukuni doesn't think so." The moment those words escaped from him, we all turned to Hunny-senpai in shock. "To him, she's the exact opposite." He blushed deep red while staring at Mori-senpai, and so was Rin-senpai. They both seemed frozen in embarrassment. Huh, it seems something else is going on here, too.

Miyori-senpai grinned widely with knowing eyes. "Of course, I know she's not." She chuckled proudly. "She's my best friend after all." Well it would've been weird if she actually did think of her negatively like that. But Hunny-senpai being comfortable with Rin-senpai in such a short time, now that was something. No wonder he doesn't fear her at all.

"How long have you been friends with Rin?" This is new. Mori-senpai is actually starting a conversation.

"Ever since we were kids. But we grew much closer since the last year of middle school, and especially during freshman year of high school. Don't tell anyone this, but she used to be bullied a lot back then. I don't know if anyone's told you yet, but there used to be this big gang in our school, and they somehow chose Rin as their target." Miyori-senpai's expression hardened. "I don't even know why they bullied Rin back then. She was always so kind, meek, and gentle. But they probably picked on her because she's small and they thought she would never fight back, because they saw those qualities of hers as weakness." Guess that's just how bullies are. They oppress people who seem less than them in their eyes, with or without any reason. "But one day they took it too far, and that's when I decided to run for student council president to challenge each and every one of them. Thankfully, I won over them. That must've inspired Rin, because ever since, she changed into the tough person she is now. Academically speaking though, she also changed but for the worse." Miyori-senpai chuckled while we looked at her confused.

"Why?" Mori-senpai asked.

"She used to be this very smart, responsible, and diligent straight-As student. But along with her change in attitude, it seems her attitude towards studies changed as well. But it's okay, because I learned a lot from Rin since then. One important thing I learned from her is that if someone helps me out, I shouldn't apologize but instead thank them. She has also been trying to teach me to rely on others more, but I keep forgetting that. But then you guys came and reminded me of her words so, thanks."

They went on to talk about someone named Kirihara-san, so I turned to look at Rin-senpai. But she wasn't there, and so was Hunny-senpai.

"Huh? Where are they?" I asked Kyouya-senpai, who was now lying back on the tree right behind me.

"Rin-senpai ran off, so Hunny-senpai went and searched for her. And these three chose to leave them be," he said as he glanced at the twins and Tamaki-senpai, who were listening intently to the two conversing people. Then, I heard something that caught my attention.

"Your mom…is she okay?" Mori-senpai asked. Why would he ask that?

"Ah…she…" was all Miyori-senpai could say. She looked down with sadness in her eyes. No, don't tell me her mom died, too?

"You don't have to answer it. I'm sorry I asked," Mori-senpai said upon seeing her expression.

But Miyori-senpai just forced a smile back at him. "No, it's okay. Three years ago, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's just finished all her chemotherapy sessions late last year, and she's now in the middle of recovery." I let out a relieved sigh. Thank goodness. I would never want anyone else to know the pain of losing a mother. "All she has to suffer now are the chemo's side effects and the maintenance medicine. But at least she survived!" She tried to look okay, but she clearly wasn't.

"What about your dad?" Mori-senpai asked again. And just like earlier, Miyori-senpai hung her head low, but now her eyes held a deeper sadness, one that seemed familiar to me.

"He…died a year ago in a car crash." _No. _We were all left in shock. "It was just after Mom's second-to-the-last chemo session. Dad had went to get a gift to congratulate her, just like he did with every session. But that gift never reached her, because it got destroyed in the accident along with Dad. The driver of the other car was drunk and he was in a fatal situation, but he managed to make it out alive. But Dad didn't." I felt that ache in my heart once again, one that I knew all too well. That must've felt so horrible and unfair. And come to think of it, Miyori-senpai is having a harder time than I am. Though it's true we both lost a parent, my dad is at least in good shape while her mother is not. No wonder she works so hard. I heard from the student council members that she usually has 2 or 3 summer jobs and she always has part-time jobs the whole school year. And now I know why.

Miyori-senpai looked like she was about to break down and cry, but she forced herself to look up. As if thinking her dad is up there, like I do with my mom so often, she smiled genuinely, which seemed to relieve Mori-senpai.

"But I'm okay now! Well, at least okay enough for me not to cry every time I remember. So you don't have to worry about making me cry by asking about it." She giggled and gave him a wide smile. Mori-senpai just looked at her baffled, perhaps wondering how she knew what he was thinking. "It shows in your eyes." She beamed childishly and looked up again. I did the same thing and just noticed the gray clouds starting to form above us. Just then, I felt a drop of water on my head, and several others followed. I looked around me and saw that Hunny-senpai and Rin-senpai were back.

"Ah, Takashi is giving her a piggy-back ride~!" exclaimed Hunny-senpai as he pointed at the two who were running to a small waiting shed a small distance away.

"Hurry! Let's follow them before they get there and notice us!" Tamaki-senpai said as he put his jacket over my head, which took me aback.

"Um, thanks senpai," I told him as I ran. He didn't seem to hear, though. We all got there successfully before the two, running behind bushes and trees that we passed to not blow our cover. Once we got there, we leaned on the wooden back of the waiting shed.

"Man, we can't understand what they're saying now because of the rain," Kaoru groaned.

"And because of this wall," said Hikaru.

"Hmm, I think Miyori-chan is asking about Takashi's family now," Hunny-senpai said, pressing his ear to the wall. Well, we already know all about that.

"They're really getting to know each other, huh?" Kyouya-senpai stated. Things were really starting to look like a romantic movie or something.

"Aww, how cute~!" everyone else crooned. I also pressed my ear to the wall and if I'm not wrong, I think they're talking about the pair of running shoes Miyori-senpai wanted to get. Well, nothing interesting to hear, except the fact that Mori-senpai is actually conversing pretty well. Not a lot of people particularly liked talking to Mori-senpai because of his lack of responses, but Miyori-senpai doesn't seem to mind. And it's like her talkativeness is starting to rub off on him, because he uses more and more words in his sentences when he talk to her.

The rain suddenly stopped, like weather is just a joke to whoever is controlling it. As I stood up, I saw the two go to the right, Mori-senpai still carrying Miyori-senpai on his back. They were headed opposite to where the amusement park is, so I guessed they're going somewhere else. But where?

"Come now, everyone! It seems they are not headed for the amusement park so we must follow and see where this dark knight is taking his princess!" Tamaki-senpai said gallantly. Is he ever gonna stop talking like that?

We walked along the two, of course covered by trees, benches, buildings, stalls, parked cars, and everything else we passed. This continued until we reached the nearest hospital. I guess Mori-senpai is still worried about Miyori-senpai's foot. We followed them inside as a nurse seated Miyori-senpai and checked on her ankle. We took a seat a few benches from them, our backs facing them, and soon enough Miyori-senpai was sent to the emergency room once a doctor came. In a short while, the doctor had already fixed it and once they got out of the room, we overheard the doctor tell her to let it rest for about 5 minutes.

"Okay, we have to be at the amusement park around that time. Let's go!" said Tamaki-senpai as quietly as he could. We all rushed out of the hospital and hurried to the amusement park, which was a fair distance away. I checked the time on my phone every once in a while and we managed to get to the park barely after 5 minutes.

"Just…how many times…have we ran…today?" Hikaru said between labored breaths as he and Kaoru slumped down on a bench.

"I…have no…idea…" his twin answered, also in the same state as his brother. I also sat down next to them, finally feeling how tired I was.

"…We'll be waiting for you, senpai. Goodbye, then," Kyouya-senpai said over the phone before facing us. "I've already informed them of our current location. Now let's just stay here and wait for them, Tamaki." He turned to the Host Club's king, who had already gone off to a cotton candy booth.

"Kazumi went that way," Rin-senpai said apathetically as she pointed to the left. Kazumi-chan had gone to a Russian roulette booth and seemed to have participated in the current game. I sweat-dropped as I noticed the temperature around Kyouya-senpai steadily drop. Uh-oh, they made the Shadow King angry again. Why can't they ever just stay put? I sighed. _I hope it won't be a long wait._

(Miyori's POV)

"It sure feels great to be on the ground again!" I said jubilantly as I walked towards the amusement park with Mori-kun. "Thanks a lot for helping me out there, and for paying the hospital bill," I told him bashfully. "Are you sure you don't want me to pay you back?"

"Yeah," came his usual reply. Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked up as if remembering something.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"The shoes."

"Nah, no need for that. Someone else probably bought it by now, so I'll just wait for the next release!" I grinned broadly as I marched along the sidewalk. So much has happened today, I don't even know where to start. But one thing's for sure. I've gotten tons more comfortable with Mori-kun. It actually feels like I've known him forever, though I can't figure out why.

Kyouya-kun just called and told me where they were. He also told me that Hunny-kun was safe and sound with them, and they were now waiting for us there.

As soon as we got there, Mori-kun was met with an ecstatic Hunny-kun with arms ready to embrace him, and I was met with a foot coming straight to my face. Rin's usual greeting. I blocked the attack with a hand, pushing her away at the same time. As expected, she landed with no problem.

"You bastard! How dare you make me wait so long!" Rin snarled.

"Well you know what? I'm not even sorry," I teased her with a huge smirk plastered on my face.

"Stop fighting, you two! Kyou-chan will get angrier~!" Hunny-kun told us and immediately, we stopped our little brawl as we noticed a dark aura coming from Kyouya-kun. We all handed over our tickets to him and it seemed all of us managed to ride our designated rides. I looked at the time on my wristwatch and saw that it was already 5:59 PM.

Soon enough, a guard went around with a megaphone. "Everyone please exit the park now. We will be closing in a few moments. I repeat, please exit the park now. We will be closing in a few moments," he announced.

"Aww man, and I wanted to try more rides, too," I said as we exited the park.

"Eh? Where have you and Mori-senpai been if you hadn't been riding rides, senpai?" Haruhi-chan asked and I froze. Come on, brain! Think of an excuse, quick!

"Uh…Mori-kun and I…went around the park eating!" Yeah, sure. Eating.

"Okay." They all seemed to buy it. _Thank goodness. _

"Well then, I'll be seeing you guys bright and early at school tomorrow, okay?"

"But senpai, we're still too tired~" the twins moaned.

"If you aren't there when I get there, I'm dragging you to school!"

"That's right, no slacking off!" Kazumi-chan told them.

"Easy for you to say," one of the twins said.

"You won't be working," the other continued.

"Of course I am! I always help Miyori-senpai every year! That's why you two shouldn't slack off!"

"Aww, how sweet of you, Kazumi-chan~!" I told her as I patted her head.

"Well good luck with that. I don't care if I have summer school, at least I ain't working for you, stupid president," Rin said snarkily.

"Hey, Rin! What did you just say?"

"Rin-chan's so mean~!" Hunny-senpai stated, irking her.

"I told you not to call me that!" she yelled.

I chuckled. "Oh well, I've got more stuff to do so, I'm off! Be early tomorrow okay?" I called out to all of them as I started walking home and they reciprocated with goodbyes. As I passed Mori-kun, I flashed him a smile and said "See ya!" Expectedly, he just nodded, but with a smile on his face. I ran home with a huge grin. They say what starts great ends great. And I'm already loving this summer even though it just started. I have a feeling I'm going to love it even more.

I looked up at the star-spangled sky. "No need to worry about me, Dad. I'm doing perfectly fine." I smiled. I don't know what I did to deserve this much happiness, but I guess I owe it all to my friends, especially the new ones. Because of them, I remembered the fact that my dad is still here with me, watching over me always. And most of all, because of them, or more specifically Mori-kun, I remembered a very important word that I've somehow forgotten to say. A word more important than sorry.

"Thanks."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Green

(Miyori's POV)

Days went by until they turned into weeks. And those weeks soon turned into a month. Soon enough, with the Host Club's help, student council work was almost finished. There were just a few paperwork left, but other than that, everything else was as good as finished.

"Great job today, everyone!" I told them and some of the student council and the Host Club cheered and clapped their hands. "Since things are just about finished, tomorrow's the last day of work so keep it up, okay?"

As usual, we were all gathered after work for some snacks and rest before going home. Sometimes, Kazumi-chan would bake some cookies and even cake, to Hunny-kun's delight. But today, I brought some madeleines from the sweets shop. Our kind manager always gives them to us for free whenever payday comes around.

"Yes! Now we can enjoy summer like we want to!" the twins and Tamaki-kun cheered. I chuckled. Well, they did deserve this after working so hard. I took another madeleine and noticed there were still a lot left, which is rare. Hunny-kun would've devoured all of this by now. I looked around the room, but there was no sign of him. I went over to Mori-kun who, to my astonishment, was seated amongst the livelier members of the student council.

"Hey, Mori-kun!" I flashed him a proud smile. "Where's Hunny-kun?"

He looked up at me. "He said he will wait for Rin then take her to eat with us."

"So they're good friends now, huh?" I lowered my voice schemingly. "So, does he like her?"

"It seems so."

"I knew it! Aww, this is so adorable!" It would be so much fun to tease Rin about this.

"Yeah." Mori-kun's face was blank, but I can tell in his eyes that he was happy about the thought of his cousin liking her.

Speak of the devil, Hunny-kun suddenly burst into the room, dragging along an exhausted Rin.

"Hey sugar high kid, I told you to let me go!" Rin said roughly as he dealt him a death glare, but there was an evident blush on her cheeks. Hunny-kun just beamed at her and dragged her over to the table where the madeleines were. He took one and handed it to Rin, and in mere seconds, he devoured the rest. Just like that.

"Yay~! Thank you for the food~!" he chimed.

"Hey, don't go saying stuff like that when you just ate all of them!" Rin's dark aura shrouded the room, to which Hunny-kun was unaffected.

"But I got really hungry while waiting for you~!"

"Who told you to wait for me anyway?"

"I did!"

"Well screw that. I wanted to eat more of this stuff and then you just had to eat them all up."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry~!"

"You don't even look like it! You expect me to accept that half-assed apology?"

Noticing she was getting quite noisy, I wrapped an arm around Rin's neck and lightly punched her head.

"Okay now quiet down, little kitty," I teased.

"You bastard, what was that about? And who are you calling little kitty?!"

"Rin-chan looks so cute when she's angry~!" Hunny-kun suddenly said, instantly silencing Rin and making her blush.

"W-who are you calling cute, you annoying plush toy addict!" she finally managed to say. I giggled. They would make such a cute pair. Especially since they're just about the same height.

All of a sudden, Tamaki-kun climbed up on the table of the SC (student council) room.

"Everyone, I just thought of something fun to do after we're done with SC work!" he proclaimed. "I call it the 'Ultimate House Visit Escapade'!" He just never fails to come up with stuff to do, huh?

"So what are we supposed to be doing in this 'escapade'?" I asked.

"It's simple! We visit the houses of each member of the SC and the Host Club for the rest of the summer! Oh, and let's also include Kazumi-chan and Rin-senpai!" Hmm, I kinda like the sound of that.

"Woohoo, that sounds cool! Let's do it!" the twins unisoned, and everyone else seemed to be in agreement.

"Let's do it, then. As the president of the SC club, I approve of it!" I stated, and my co-members cheered. "Okay, so whose house do we visit first?"

"I nominate P.I.O's house, President! I heard he's got a pool in his house!" the Vice President, Shuuya-kun, said.

"N-no we don't! Those are just false rumors!" was P.I.O Nagato-kun's retort.

"I've already been to his house. Let's go somewhere we haven't gone to yet," Treasurer Shirota-kun said.

"We've never been to President's house!" Social Manager Kyuugetsu-kun declared, to which Tamaki-kun shook his head.

"We must save the visit to the club presidents' houses for last, since we're special like that!" he said with his winning smirk.

"You don't even act like a president, senpai. Kyouya-senpai does all the work," Haruhi said bluntly, causing Tamaki-kun to fall over animatedly. And off he went to his emo corner again.

"Hmm, let's see. Whose house haven't we gone to yet…?" I looked around the room, then spotted that flock of auburn hair. "I highly nominate Rin's house!" The instant I said that, Rin turned around and dealt me her best death glare so far. Of course, everyone else in the room was scared to death, except for Mori-kun, Kyouya-kun, and Hunny-kun.

"B-but p-president, haven't you g-gone to h-her house a l-lot of times?" Nagato-kun replied shakily. I saw Rin smirk in delight, thinking she won. But I won't let her.

"Actually, Rin just moved to a new one, so I haven't gone there yet. Right, Rin?" I grinned evilly as I turned to her.

"You liar! I never moved!" she replied, infuriated.

"Tsk tsk, it's not good to lie, Rin." I went near her, noticing her clenched fists and genuine anger in her sea-blue eyes, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as I leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Calm down, Rin. It's just a little visit. I promise I won't let them know."

"Then why did you nominate my house?"

"So that the visit to your house will be done with as quickly as possible. He's gonna find you any time now, remember?"

I saw her steely gaze relenting, until she finally looked down in defeat. "Okay."

"Don't worry, I'll help you later." With that, I turned to face everyone else, who were clearly confused by my actions. "Everyone, Rin has agreed to it! So when and where will we meet?"

"Uh…9:30 am on Saturday, meeting place here at school…?" Tamaki-kun said, still shocked that _the _Rin agreed to it.

"Is everyone free on that date?" I asked, and they all nodded. "Awesome! So, what're you all waiting for? Let's start cleaning up so we can go home!"

"The hell I'm cleaning. I'm outta here," Rin said as she exited the room.

"Ah, Rin-chan!" Hunny-kun called out as he went after her. We proceeded with cleaning and in a short while, Hunny-kun came back to clean with us. Soon, we finished cleaning and one by one, everyone exited the room. I was the last one out since I had the keys to the room. To my surprise, Mori-kun and Hunny-kun were waiting for me outside.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you had gone home," I told them as I closed the door and locked it.

"We want to walk home with you, Miyo-chan~!" Hunny-kun said, skipping down the stairs.

"Huh? Why? And wait, you don't even know the path I take when going home."

"Of course we know. We take the same path~!"

"Eh? How did you know that? Even I didn't know."

"This morning when we went out of our apartment building, Takashi and I saw you walking by, and we secretly followed behind you~!"

"I never noticed!" I chuckled. "So, mind telling me why you wanted to walk home with me?"

"Mitsukuni wants to ask you some things," Mori-kun said. As I suspected, it must be about what happened earlier with Rin.

"Ah, about that? Oh, that was nothing. I just told Rin to calm down," I said facing Hunny-kun.

"So why did she get angry? Was she that against everyone going to her house?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Why?" I stopped in my tracks, and so did they. _Should I tell him?_ I shook my head. I can't. I must not break my promise with Rin. If Hunny-kun should know, I'll let him find out himself.

"Sorry Hunny-kun, but I can't tell you. I promised Rin I won't tell anyone. Sorry, but I hope you'll understand.

He looked at me with confusion, then he nodded. "Okay, I understand."

I sighed in relief and smiled at him. "Thank you." I patted his head and continued to walk with them. Soon, we reached an apartment building and we bid goodbye. I waved at them as they entered the large building. Even for temporarily living as commoners, they were still a step above normal folk like us.

I started to walk home when I remembered Rin, so I immediately turned around and ran for her house. I did say I would help her out, plus I also needed to apologize. I knew that a house visit from people she barely knew was the last thing Rin needed right now, but I still made her agree to it anyway. It wasn't fair for her. At the moment, my intention was to let her get used to the idea of people being there for her and caring about her. But she might have taken that badly, and she might be thinking about it too much right now. I must go and apologize. I have to be there for her, especially now.

(Mori's POV)

Mitsukuni and I boarded the elevator to the floor of our room. He still hasn't said a word since that conversation with Miyori. He was still bothered by it, and so was I. What could the reason be that Miyori just can't say? Why did Rin not want anybody to know about it? I guessed Mitsukuni also had the same questions in his head. He remained in that same state even after we got off the lift and headed to our rooms. I reminded him to brush his teeth before going to bed as usual, but he just nodded, said good night despondently, and entered his room.

I couldn't help but want to stop him from entering and make him talk to me about it. I figured this would be the perfect time to do what Miyori would do if she notices someone is troubled with something—talk. So as soon as I finished taking a bath and changing, I went to Mitsukuni's room and knocked on his door. Thankfully, he opened it and came out wearing his pajamas.

"What is it, Takashi?" he asked sleepily.

"Oh, were you asleep? I'm sorry I woke you up."

"No, I can't sleep. It's so bothersome."

"Want to talk about it?" Finally, I said it. He nodded and followed me to my room. I yawned as I sat on the floor, facing him. I shook my head to ignore the need to sleep. My cousin needs to talk about it, or else, it will probably bother him the whole night and deprive him of sleep.

"So, what's the problem?" I asked.

"Rin-chan…" was all he managed to say.

"Hm, so you are still bothered by that. Well, maybe we'll find out about it this Saturday, right?"

His brow creased in worry. "But what if we don't? And it becomes a problem too big for just her and Miyo-chan to handle?"

I regarded him thoughtfully. "If you're really meant to know about it, you will. In due time." At that, he seemed to lighten up. And for the first time since talking to Miyori earlier, he finally smiled, which made me smile as well.

"You're right. Thanks for talking to me about it, Takashi~!" he beamed as he stood up and headed out the door after bidding me good night. Relieved that I managed to help my cousin somehow, I finally crawled into bed, all the while hoping that Mitsukuni will find out the problem that the one he loves could not afford to be known by others before that problem escalates into a state where it can no longer be helped.

(Miyori's POV)

"Yosh! Now we're all complete! Well then, Rin-senpai, please lead the way!" Tamaki-kun exclaimed as Rin flinched. The day has finally come. I managed to prepare Rin for it somehow. She was a bit more mentally and emotionally stable now, and things should go well as long as nobody triggers certain memories. And we made sure beforehand that they won't find anything in her house to make that happen.

We walked and walked until we reached her apartment building. Indeed I lied about not knowing where Rin lived, but I didn't lie about her moving. She transferred to her new apartment earlier this month, before I met the Host Club, and since I'm her best friend, I knew about it from the start.

"Yay! I finally get to go to Rin-senpai's place!" Kazumi-chan whooped in joy as we climbed up a set of stairs. "Now I can finally read all of senpai's mangas, and I know you have tons of them!" Anime was the reason Rin and Kazumi-chan got along with each other from the start. They were both avid otakus, but Rin was one longer than Kazumi-chan. That's why Kazumi-chan would go to Rin for the latest on the world of animes and mangas.

"Whoa, Kazumi-chan and Rin-senpai, you're otakus too?" Nagato-kun shrieked in joy as his eyes sparkled.

"Nagato-kun, you're one of them too?" exclaimed Kyuugetsu-kun and Shirota-kun in shock. It was worth not mentioning that I sometimes would see Nagato-kun reading mangas when he's done with SC work.

"You must be a closet otaku as well, huh?" Rin asked him.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Nagato-kun shrieked, obviously nervous that Rin was talking to him.

"Stop calling me that, it makes me feel old!"

"Y-yes, your Highness!"

"That makes me feel even older!"

"Y-yes, Rin the Great!"

"Just shut up!" I giggled at the scene. Rin already seemed to have made a new friend. This house visit thing wasn't that bad, after all.

After going through a bunch of rooms on the second floor, Rin halted in front of her door. "Here we are," she said as she opened the door. Tamaki-kun and the twins came rushing in immediately and we all followed after a while.

"Cool! It's the same size as Haruhi's!" exclaimed one Hitachiin.

"Yeah! And look, it's got tatami mats too!" shrilled the other.

"Hey, aren't you guys living in one like this too?" I commented, trying to calm them down. But they just went off and explored the rest of the room. Suddenly, Rin knocked the trio out with one kick and they flew in the air.

"You bastards. This is my territory, you hear?" Rin yelled at them. "I won't have you roaming around here in such misbehavior!"

They immediately sat up straight, stiff as statues. "W-we're sorry!"

Rin sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, I'll show you guys around myself, so don't you go around and mess up anything." She toured us around, starting from her bedroom, the bathroom, the little kitchen, and finally, in the little room where she said she stocked all her anime stuff and mangas. As soon as she switched on the lights in the room, Kazumi-chan and Nagato-kun gasped in awe.

Thousands of mangas were lined up perfectly in the large bookshelf to the left, some stacked up beside the shelf for lack of space. On the right side was a large glass closet that was almost overflowing with anime figurines and collectibles, some of them standing atop the closet. Beside it were some stuff that seemed to be anime character items, usually for cosplaying purposes. And in the center of the room stood a large wooden closet. Seeing that Kazumi-chan and Nagato-kun were busy gawking at the thousands of anime figurines, I opened the wooden closet and gasped at what I saw. It was filled with tons of clothes that seemed to be cosplay costumes, all neatly folded and hung. They all had corresponding footwear lined up neatly in the shoe compartment underneath the hung clothes. Rin sure is meticulous when she's passionate about something.

As Kazumi-chan and Nagato-kun finally discovered the cosplay costumes and proceeded to try them on, I went over to the shelf with mangas, just to see what they really love about these stuff. I picked up a random manga that I didn't even bother to read the title. I sat down on the floor and started reading. The manga was about a girl who knew nothing about love because somehow, she's never experienced it. No guy seemed to attract her or peak her interest, and so it left her to wonder how it felt to be in love. Then came a guy who was very friendly and outgoing. He and the girl became good friends and soon enough, they grew closer. I flipped the page and saw that the girl was writing on her diary.

"Why is it that when I'm with him, I don't know exactly how I feel?" the girl wrote. "First, I become really nervous when talking to him." Wait, that sounds familiar. It's exactly what I feel whenever I talk to Mori-kun, though I always try to shrug it away. "It's weird. Whenever I'm with him, I feel embarrassed, but in a good way. My heart beats so fast, heat rises to my cheeks, and I don't know why." What the—It's like she knows what I feel whenever I'm around Mori-kun. "Maybe it's because I always feel so happy when I'm with him, but why?" Come to think of it, I always do feel happy and light when I'm with him, and now I want to ask the same question. "He fills my every thought, even though I don't even mean to think of him."

"I know right?" I had unknowingly said. The one who made this manga couldn't possibly have stalked me, so why does this girl know how I feel? I flipped the page to see that the girl texted one of her closest friends about her feelings.

Then, her friend's reply stunned her as much as it did me: "It's simple. You love him."

I gaped at how perfectly it made sense. "I…love him?"

_A/N: So sorry for the late update, just got a little busy for a week. But I'm back now, so expect more updates in the near future._

_Anyhoot, thank you so much for all the new followers and faves and reviews! I do this for you all!_

_And for those who don't know (basically, everyone who is new to this story), you'll find out more about Rin in my next project, A Pink and Black Summer, which I will be working on as soon as I finish typing this one out and publishing it. (Btw I made that title before Blackpink even existed to let's not make any assumptions okay? Okay. And you'll soon find out the correlation of the color-themed titles and the characters hihi)_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Greener

(Kyouya's POV)

"Yosh! Let's go to Kyuugetsu-kun's house!" declared Tamaki, seeing as we were almost complete. Almost, since some of the SC members are not here. Nagato and Shirota said they would go ahead since they lived near Kyuugetsu's. He proceeded to board the back of Kyuugetsu's pickup truck with the twins and the other SC members. Meanwhile, I got on the backseat while Hunny-senpai and the girls filed into the backseat.

"Eh? Wait, what about Mori-san and President?" queried Shuuya from the back as he looked around.

"She called me just a while ago and said she'll just catch up," Rin-senpai answered.

"How about Mori-senpai?" Haruhi asked Hunny-senpai.

"He said he had to go buy something and will be catching up too~!" was his reply. Hmm, it seems the plan is going faster than expected, although it might be too early to make conclusions. What Mori-senpai has set out to do might not be connected to the plan, as well as Miyori-senpai's reason.

"What is it?"

"A pair of sports shoes for Miyo-chan~!" I smirked. I guess I made the right conclusion, after all.

"Eh? Why is he buying it for her?" asked Kazumi, who was right beside Haruhi.

A scheming smile crossed Hunny-senpai's face. "Heehee, I know Takashi wouldn't want anybody else to know, but I'll tell you guys anyway. Just keep it a secret, especially from Miyo-chan, okay~?" The girls nodded as they huddled closer to him. He whispered the secret, and instantly, the three gasped.

"Eh? He likes her-!" Kazumi shrieked but Haruhi's hand covered her mouth. Well, it's too late for that. Apparently though, it seems Kyuugetsu was too busy driving that it seems I'm the only one who heard.

"How did you know that?" Rin-senpai questioned.

"You see, I asked him tons of questions last night. There was this manga I read in Rin-chan's house yesterday that kind of described being in love," Hunny-senpai answered.

"Ah, that manga. So let me guess, you asked him if he felt that way towards Miyori?"

"Yup~! And he said yes to all of them~!"

"Kyaaa~! This is so moe~!" Kazumi exclaimed as she cupped her cheeks, briefly reminding me of Renge.

Hunny-senpai grinned. "I even asked him a bonus question. I made him choose between me and Miyo-chan and he could only save one of us because he'd die if he tried to save us both."

"And did he choose Miyori-senpai?" Haruhi asked.

"Yup~! He said it was because I am more capable of protecting myself compared to Miyo-chan, but I don't think that's all. I believe Miyo-chan can be just as strong as both of us when the moment demands her to, and I know Takashi knows that too. But somehow, it's like he still wants to protect her, and I wouldn't know any other reason for that besides her being important to him~!"

"That's how he's always treated _you_, right senpai?" To Haruhi's question, he nodded. "And you're okay with that?" He nodded again.

"It's about time he stopped the 'servant-master' relationship he's always held for me. I understand it doesn't mean he's abandoning me, like he first thought, but it just means that he's finally found that one person who is more important than me or anybody and anything else. And I definitely approve~!"

"Really? You're okay with _that _Miyori?" Rin-senpai asked critically.

"Why not? Miyo-chan is nice, strong, friendly, responsible and smart~! Most of all, I think she feels the same way for Takashi too, even if she hasn't realized it yet. Plus, I kinda see her as the big sister I never had~!"

"I know, right? I get that kind of feeling from her too," Kazumi stated. Well well, the plan is progressing faster than expected. Indeed that little trip to the amusement park played a very important role in this, and I didn't even do much to make that happen. And I bet this whole house visit thing is going to make progress even faster. Everything is going too perfectly that I have to doubt for a second if this is just some sort of illusion to make me believe it is. Which is why I should not let my guard down. But the chances of my plan being a success is almost perfect by now, so there's basically nothing to worry about, especially if it's going along at this pace. I couldn't help but smirk.

"My victory is closer than you think, Miyori-senpai."

(Mori's POV)

"Here you are," the saleslady said as she handed me the shoe box in a paper bag. I exited the sports shop and started heading to Miyori's house. It took a while for me to look for the exact same pair of shoes that Miyori wanted back in the amusement park, but I finally found them. I clutched the bag tightly as I walked faster, remembering that I still have to catch up to Kyuugetsu's house.

"_Now that you know you like her, you should go impress her or something, like that guy in the manga I read yesterday at Rin-chan's~!" _was what Mitsukuni told me last night, so I followed his advice. _"You could probably buy her something she likes, like some new running shoes or something~!" _It was then I remembered how much Miyori wanted this pair, and now they're in my hands and all there is left to do is give it to her. The problem is, I don't really know where she lives, so I just followed the way to our apartment, since I know she lives past there.

A while after passing our apartment, I met a fork road. _Where do I go? _Both the roads went uphill and looked almost identical. As I alternated my sight from the left road to the right, I saw a woman walking up the right road. I noticed that she was carrying about 4 large grocery bags, which hindered her march up the road. I rushed over to her and offered to carry the heavier bags, leaving her with only the light ones.

"Why, thank you so much, young man," she told me smilingly. She seemed to be in her mid-30's. "I'm sorry for the trouble."

"It's okay," I told her with my host smile.

"Gentlemen are very rare these days. I guess I got really lucky today!" I stared at her as she smiled again. Something was very familiar about it, but I couldn't point out what. "Do you live around here?"

"No, I just came to visit someone."

"Ah, no wonder you looked new. My house is just a few ways from here, so why don't you have some tea before you go to your friend?" She stared at me with such gentle brown eyes that I found it hard to put down the offer.

"If it's okay with you, then yes. Thank you."

"No, don't thank me. I wanted to do this to thank you for your help." To that, I nodded while I inwardly shrugged. Guess I'll just have to make good use of the situation and ask her where to find the Furisaki residence later. Last night, Mitsukuni told me of stories about people becoming selfish when they're in love, only seeing the one they love and no one else, so this must be some kind of test. Well, I just have to pass this and wait patiently, then.

(Miyori's POV)

"What's taking you so long, you moron?" Rin yelled over the phone as I lay in bed. I felt an itch coming up my throat and did my best to suppress it, but I ended up coughing. "You're sick, aren't you?" I knew it. I knew I could never hide anything from her. She knows me like the back of her hand.

"Yeah," I told her with a sniffle, and with that, she hung up. Just this morning, as I was about to get prepared to go to Kyuugetsu-kun's house, I couldn't even move. I felt so weak, my body felt like jelly. When I put my hand on my forehead, I was burning. I caught a fever, which made Mom hesitate to go grocery shopping. It took a lot of convincing before she finally stopped worrying about me. I had then told Rin that I would be catching up, thinking I'd probably gain enough strength by now. But I'm still weak as ever, and now Rin knows it.

About 15 minutes after her call, I heard a car park outside our house. I struggled to sit up in bed to see who it was. I recognized the silver pickup truck immediately. It was Kyuugetsu-kun's car, and on it were everyone from the SC and the Host Club. God knows how they managed to fit into it. They all got off and started pressing the broken doorbell button. Rin looked up and was the first one to see me through my window. I motioned for them to just push the gate open, the rusty lock as useless as ever. A while later, they all burst into my room with Rin leading the way.

"PRESIDENT!" the SC members chorused with worry all over their faces.

"Miyori-senpai, I heard you caught a fever!" Tamaki-kun shrieked dramatically.

"Miyo-chan, want me to give you some cake? Maybe it can make you feel better," Hunny-kun whimpered at my bedside.

I forced a smile, still aware of how weak I was. "I'm okay, you guys! No need to be that worried. It's just a little fever."

"You idiot! You should've told us you had a stupid fever in the first place!" Rin scolded me.

"Senpai, you should take it easy and lie down!" Kazumi-chan said as she set me in a lying position on my bed.

"Sorry for troubling you guys," I said weakly.

Rin glowered at me. "Tch. How many times do I have to remind you?"

"Oh right, my bad. Thanks for coming all the way here, you guys." After I spoke those words, they all seemed to calm down a little. Huh, maybe a thank you really does have magic.

"Nah, it was no problem. Right, Kyuugetsu-kun?" Shuuya-kun said and Kyuugetsu-kun nodded.

"Well, what are you gonna do with your part-time job this afternoon?" Rin asked. _Oh, right_. Yesterday I had asked to be in the afternoon shift because of the House Visit Escapade, and here I am calling in sick on my first day of afternoon shift.

"Oh no, I haven't called in sick yet!" I screamed. There's no thinking what the manager would do. I might get fired from my only job this summer.

"I know!" Tamaki-kun exclaimed. "We can go fill in for her!"

"EH?" we all shrieked in unison.

"But senpai, Miyori-senpai is just one person, and there's too much of us," Haruhi-chan stated. But before I could agree with her, Tamaki-kun spoke again.

"Then let's ask the manager to allow us, and tell them they don't need to pay us all. We can probably even gain more profit for the shop with my divine looks!" Ah, there he goes again. But he does have a point.

"I have to admit he's right," Kyouya-kun said. "His Host skills can be used to attract customers into the shop, and the rest of us can strengthen the shop's manpower. And they would only need to give us the salary of one person, so there's no way they can refuse."

"Wait, am I supposed to be a waiter or a waitress?" Haruhi-chan asked.

"Waitress!" Tamaki-kun and the twins unisoned.

"The only problem is if the manager will agree," I told them.

"Miyori-senpai, what do you think the Host Club's looks are for?" Tamaki-kun stated proudly and once again, rose petals swirled in the air around him.

"Er…what about us?" Shirota-kun asked, and the twins eyed them meticulously.

"Hmm, their looks will do," they stated bluntly as they continued playing with their PSP's, which left the SC members sweat-dropping.

"Thanks a lot, you guys," I told them all and slowly, they bid goodbye and filed out of my room. I smiled as I wondered just what I did to deserve friends like them. Well, whatever that is, I'm forever thankful for them.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Mom and Dad."

(Mori's POV)

As the woman and I walked the uphill path, I noticed a silver pickup truck whiz by so fast that the passengers on it were a blur.

"We're here," the woman told me as she opened the gate to her house. As I entered, I continued to stare off at the pickup truck that passed us. Then it hit me that I missed my chance to see the nameplate on the woman's gate. She slid open the door to her quaint house and urged me in. I took off my shoes as she did and entered as she led the way to the dining room.

"Sorry, I know it's not much, but please make yourself at home," she told me as she gestured to the dining table near the kitchen and lit a stove burner to put a kettle over it. I looked around the room as she brought out some apples from one of the grocery bags and started chopping them.

"May I know your name?" she asked me.

"Takashi will do," I replied, not wanting her to know my identity.

"So Takashi-kun, where do you go to school?"

"Higashi High." I lied. I couldn't possibly tell her I'm from Ouran. It's faster this way than having to explain what an Ouran student is doing here.

Her face lit up. "Oh, then you must know my daughter, Miyori! She's the president of the student council, right?" _Miyori? Daughter? Am I hearing things?_

"Furisaki Miyori?" I had to make sure I heard that right.

"Yes. Are you also in the same class as her?" Huh, guess I heard it right. No wonder something about the woman seemed so familiar, especially the smile and that bright attitude. For someone who has just finished a battle with cancer, she looked very strong and lively, just like her daughter. I guess this means I passed the test. I didn't even have to look for her.

"Yes. Actually, it's Miyori I've come to visit. Do you know where she is?"

She whirled around in surprise. "Eh? You were looking for Miyori? Are you one of her friends, perhaps?" She eyed me sceptically, as if a huge misunderstanding was brewing in her mind.

I had to clear it up fast. "Uh, I work with her in the student council, so I guess."

It seemed to work, because the woman seemed to sigh inwardly in relief. "I see. Well, it sure is nice of you to come and visit her, but I'm afraid you've come at a bad time."

"Why?"

"She's currently resting upstairs in her room. She caught a fever last night and actually, you caught me from a trip to the pharmacy and just took the chance to buy some groceries." She suddenly looked sullen, which reminded me of when Miyori talked about her dad. "With just the two of us here, I couldn't take enough care of her. And now I have to go buy some more groceries that I forgot to buy earlier." I knew that the absence of Miyori's dad wasn't the only reason she couldn't take care of Miyori. I could see that she's still weak and frail no matter how strong she acts, and I finally understand why Miyori is so protective of her. She _is _the only family Miyori has left.

"I can buy them for you," I said.

I saw her eyes flit around the room nervously. "Um, well you see, this is something I have to buy myself." The way she fidgeted a bit suggested that she didn't want me to ask about it, so I thought of the next best thing that I could do for her.

"Then if it's okay with you, I can keep an eye on her for the moment."

"It's okay with me, but what about you? You might have some more things to do today."

"It's fine with me. Besides, it's the least I can do for our hardworking president."

Instantly, a smile of genuine happiness crossed her face. "Really? Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to me. I'm so happy Miyori has such nice friends."

After some tea and more small talk, she led me upstairs to Miyori's room. Thankfully I have some experience in taking care of someone with a fever, courtesy of Mitsukuni, but as our march up the stairs ended, I still heaved a nervous breath. Well, here I go.

(Miyori's POV)

As I lay there in bed, I heard a set of footsteps approaching my room. It seemed to belong to two people. Were they back already? Wait, no. It isn't even afternoon yet. They should be back at around 5 or 6. It must be Mom, but who's the other person? Come to think of it, I didn't see Mori-kun with everyone earlier.

"Miyori-chan, someone's come to visit you!" Mom called out. _Is it him? _I shook my head at the thought. No way that's gonna happen, right? But when the door slid open, my question was answered.

"Mori-kun?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Orange

(3rd POV)

"Come now, my royal subjects! Let's go back to Miyori-senpai's abode!" proclaimed the enthusiastic Tamaki as the group boarded Kyuugetsu's pickup truck. They had just finished filling in for Miyori's part time job, and it was tiring as hell. But Tamaki, the Hitachiin twins, Hunny, and Kazumi were still as energetic and noisy as ever, and for a tired Kyouya, it's not a good thing. Desperately trying to calm his boiling temper, he adjusted his glasses and tried to distract himself. It was then he remembered.

"Any news on Mori-senpai's whereabouts, Hunny-senpai?" he asked the hyper upperclassman, noting how Mori never showed up even when he had informed him about filling in for Miyori. Oh, scratch that. _Tried _to inform him. They've been calling him since they left Miyori's house, but he never picked up. And with their hectic time at the sweets shop, no one had a chance to follow up on him except Hunny, who he also didn't answer.

"Nope, but don't worry! He knows what he's doing, whatever it is~!" Hunny replied with a knowing smile. The vague answer left a million questions in Kyouya's head. What _was _Mori doing? Was it connected to the plan, perhaps? Or was he getting dragged away or wandering from the plan? Kyouya didn't know, and he never liked not knowing.

But for now, he just had to wait. The chances of the plan's success was still high regardless of what Mori is doing, and even if he does get carried off by some other factor, it might even help speed up the progress. Kyouya smirked. All he needed to do now was sit back and enjoy the show.

(Miyori's Mom's POV)

"I'm home!" I announced, but the house was quiet. _Maybe Miyori's asleep. _Taking the chance of being alone in the living room, I slowly and quietly brought out some decorations for the birthday party—a long banner with "Happpy Birthday" written across it in bold letters, some decoratives (mostly in her favorite color yellow), confetti and the like. I also brought out the large box of cake and carefully set it in the refrigerator.

I'm glad Takashi didn't ask any further earlier about what I was going to buy, because I wouldn't have known what to say. I just needed any excuse to buy all this for a little surprise birthday party for Miyori tonight, and I wouldn't have went through with it if it wasn't for Takashi offering to watch Miyori while I went out.

You might ask, why entrust my daughter to a person I just met? Well, I wouldn't have entrusted Miyori with anyone else but myself and Rin-chan, but I saw the sincerity in that boy's eyes. It told me that he wouldn't do Miyori any harm, and that he was ready to do anything for her. I actually assumed him to be a suitor, but I guess they're still being friends right now.

I happen to know a lot about this stuff, since I used to be our school's "love doctor". Girls often came to me for advice in their love lives, but ironically, I didn't have one myself. It was only after high school when Miyori's father came into my life that I truly experienced what all those girls did, and I got to apply my own advice.

And now, as another year is added to my daughter's life, it's about time she'll be needing my advice. I was a bit worried about her love life, to be honest. Miyori has always been too preoccupied with her responsibilities in the house, the school, her studies, track and field, and her work that she practically had no time for herself. I always try to remind her to spare some time for herself, but Miyori just has a very strong sense of responsibility that even I can't convince her to slow down and take care of herself.

But I noticed recently that she has been less stressed, even though she still had work, the student council, and remaining school work. And now I know why. She has found someone else that she can rely on. She found herself a new friend, and possibly someone more than just that.

As I struggled to tie one end of the banner on a high beam near the ceiling, there came a knock on the door. I went over to open it, secretly hoping that Miyori's friends have come to visit. The first people to meet my sight were Rin-chan and Kazumi-chan, and right behind them were, if my memory serves me right, the members of the SC, whom I recognized from a picture of the SC that Miyori showed me a while back. Then there were a bunch of people I don't recognize. The unfamiliar faces were all quite good-looking—one a dashing blond with captivating blue eyes, twins with striking red hair and a mischievous glint in their identical green eyes, and a little boy about as tall as Rin-chan, his brownish blond hair bouncing as he jumped in place clutching a pink stuffed bunny. There was also a bespectacled dark-haired guy who had calculating grey eyes, and a girl whose chocolate-brown hair was styled in a way that could fool anyone into thinking she's a guy if she wore men's clothes.

"Yo, old lady," Rin-chan greeted with her usual term of "endearment".

"My my, what are you kids doing here this late? Playtime's only until 4, you know," I teased, making Kazumi-chan giggle.

"Aww, come on auntie! We want to play with Miyori-senpai!" she retorted with that childish pout of hers.

I laughed. "Okay, okay. I see you even brought the student council members, and some new faces too. New friends of Miyori, perhaps?"

"Precisely, madame!" said the blond guy gallantly as he stepped in between Rin-chan and Kazumi-chan. "Please, allow us to introduce ourselves!" He bowed in a prince-like manner but was suddenly shoved aside by the guy with glasses. "Hey, why did you—" he started to protest, but was met with eyes screaming murder. Instantly, he shrunk and paled as white as paper.

"Please, allow me," the glasses guy told me with a rehearsed politeness. "We have indeed come to visit our Miyori-senpai. We are also students of Higashi High and have volunteered to work for the student council this summer in gratitude of Miyori-senpai's efforts for our school." He spoke with an elegant ease, as if he practiced these sentences in his head a million times.

"I am Ookami Kyouya, and that guy just now was Suzumi Tamaki." In the corner of my eye, I saw the blond twitch at the name Suzumi. I wonder why. "Those two are Hinamori Hikaru and Kaoru," he faced the identical redheads and they, too, twitched at their surname. That's strange. "This is Nozomi Mitsukuni." The little boy he referred to flashed a wide childish grin. "But you can call him Hunny, it's his nickname."

"I can see why," I smilingly commented, seeing how the boy appeared as sweet as honey.

"And this is Suzuna Haruhi," Kyouya said, pertaining to the brown-haired girl.

"Pleased to meet you, Furisaki-san," she greeted politely with a noticeable boyish hint in her voice.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Please, come in!" I ushered them into our small house. "I'm sorry if it's too cramped…" I said sheepishly, but all I saw were excited faces and stares from most of them. Then we got to the living room, and the questions and reactions came flooding in.

"It's Miyori-senpai's birthday?!"

"We totally forgot!"

"Eh? President's birthday was today?!"

"Did you know it was today, Rin-senpai?" Kazumi-chan asked Rin-chan, who had a deadpan expression on her face.

"Ah, I forgot," she simply replied, which made almost everyone face-palm. But I just laughed, knowing Rin-chan was just kidding.

"Furisaki-san, we want to help out in the preparation!" Shuuya-kun and Nagato-kun told me in unison.

"Why, thank you so much. I do need some help with tying the banner up there…" Just as I said that, they grabbed the banner and started tying it up to the beam.

"We'll help too!" most of the others chorused eagerly. Everyone started helping and slowly, the whole place was filled with the bright and jovial decorations I bought. I proceeded to the kitchen to prepare the food, struggling to hold back tears of joy.

My only daughter has found such great friends. Because of them, Miyori is now learning to unwind, rely on others, and to let go of the burden of my sickness and the gravity of her father's death. I've been longing for this day when my daughter can finally free herself. And it has come.

(3rd POV)

The weak rays of the setting sun beamed softly through the windows, landing on the two people sleeping on the bed beside it. After a day of intense mental exercises (chess, card games, board games, and the like), Miyori had fallen asleep, and so did Mori. The fever-stricken girl liked to play games that exercised her mind whenever she was sick, and after almost a whole day of that, of course she was exhausted. After finishing a game of Scrabble, she fell asleep instantly. But the smile on the redhead's face was not just from the day of healing mental games. It was mostly because of the dark-haired guy beside her.

Just when she least expected, and most needed, his presence and his help, he came. He took care of everything she needed today, and even took the time to play all those mind games with her. She appreciated his efforts more than he'll ever know. Even just seeing him made her feel at ease and free.

And Mori, whose strength and stamina was thought to be limitless, wore himself out too. Not that he found it hard, he just wasn't used to it. Even in class, he didn't really need that much effort to understand things, and he was only ever used to exerting mental effort during kendo trainings and real-life battles. But today, he exerted more mental effort than he ever thought he could that he instantly felt worn out and sleepy.

And we all know what a sleepy Mori might do. Good thing he fell asleep when he was just millimetres apart from her and had unbuttoned just the first two buttons of his shirt. Now, the two slept peacefully beside each other, face to face as they breathed in almost perfect synchronization. They were a perfect picture of two lovers sleeping soundly in a mild afternoon.

Until there suddenly came a very loud pop from below and a loud shriek following it. Mori and Miyori were stirred awake at the same time, and the fact that they woke up so close to each other didn't even register in their heads. Only one thing crossed their minds—Miyori's mom was in danger.

The two instantly got up on their feet and rushed down the stairs, hearing noises from more and more people, most of them being men. Miyori flung open the door to the living room, with Mori following closely behind her.

But when they got there, the room was completely dark. The lights were shut, and it seemed like all passageways of natural light was covered up. There was complete silence, which unsettled Miyori all the more. What has happened to her mom?

(Miyori's POV)

"Mom, are you there?" I called out in the darkness, my eyes starting to fill with tears. Then all of a sudden, all the lights went on, rendering me blind for a few seconds.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIYORI-SENP—" was what I managed to hear from what sounded like Tamaki-kun, Hunny-kun and the twins. Why they suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, I didn't know. But as soon as my head cleared and I could see clearly, what met my sight were stunned, blushing faces. I instantly turned to my left where Mori-kun was, and it hit me like a bullet train.

Mori-kun's hair was a mess, and the first two buttons of his shirt were undone. I also realized that I still have bed hair, and I had undone the first few buttons of my night shirt earlier because of how hot my body felt from the fever. Then I realized I was staring at Mori-kun in shock this whole time, and he was doing the same.

"I-It's not what you think!" he and I stuttered together at the crowd in front of us, both of us probably beet red at the thought of what was going on in their minds.

"M-Mori-senpai…no way…" Tamaki and the twins said with wide eyes. Hunny-kun, Kazumi-chan, and Haruhi-chan just stood there agape, and Rin shook her head in disbelief.

"I never knew you were that type, Miyori," she said. Behind her, Kyouya was writing in his mysterious notepad thingy, unable to contain a wide smirk. Even the SC members were there, gasping and staring at us with red faces, just like everyone else. And Mom? Well, she was clasping her hands together and worriedly stared at Mori-kun.

"Takashi-kun, please tell me you used protection," she pleaded with teary eyes, and I wanted to jump out the window right then and there and never return.

Mori-kun went several shades redder. "I promise you ma'am, we didn't do it," he said firmly, a cornered expression on his face.

"We just fell asleep okay?" I decided to say in defense. "He was taking care of me while Mom was away, and I made him play a thousand board games and card games with me so of course he got tired and fell asleep!" Mori-kun just nodded beside me, but they still eyed us suspiciously.

"That's preposterous! Mori-senpai never gets tired!" Tamaki objected, and the Host Club agreed.

"No, I do," he retorted bluntly.

"But there isn't a single thing that makes you tired so easily, as far as I know," Hunny-kun said curiously.

"Mind games. I just found out as well." Mori-kun turned to his right in embarrassment. Convinced now, they laughed at Mori-kun's unexpected weakness. Now that the issue was settled, the decorations around our living room finally sank into my mind. I'm having a birthday party. I haven't had one since Dad died. And most of all, everyone's here, and it's not just me and Mom as usual.

"Well, since there was a minor interruption earlier, I demand that we start over!" Tamaki declared and immediately, I was escorted out of the room by Shirota-kun.

"You can go change if you want while we prepare, Pres," he told me as he went back into the room. I took his offer and quickly changed into something more presentable, and once I was done, I re-entered the living room. After a whispered "3, 2, 1, go!" the lights went on.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIYORI!" they all cheered as the twins sprinkled confetti beside me. Then my mom embraced me and before I knew it, tears started creeping up into my eyes.

"Happy birthday, my dearest Miyori," she whispered lovingly into my ear as she planted a kiss on my cheek.

"Thanks so much Mom," I told her. And as if a cue to stop the mushiness and resume with the fun atmosphere, Rin went up to me and off went a camera flash in front of my teary eyes.

"Checkmate, crybaby!" Rin taunted.

"Give me that!" I yelled as I chased her around the room. When I finally cornered her, Kazumi, as always, stepped in between us like a referee.

"Alright, enough of that, you two!" she said, forcing authority into her childish tone. "Miyori-senpai, if you're not going to take a slice of your birthday cake, Hunny-senpai is going to devour all of it before you do!"

I turned to Hunny-kun, whose hands were just millimetres away from a fork before I rushed over and took it away from him.

"Wait, President! You have to blow the candle and make a wish first!" Nagato-kun interrupted just as I was about to stab the fork into it.

"Oh, right. My bad." I scratched the back of my head clumsily, making everyone laugh. I closed my eyes, wishing for that pair of running shoes I've always wanted, before blowing the candle. Then, the party began.

(Haruhi's POV)

After eating and a little message from the SC members and Miyori-senpai's mom, the next part of the party began—giving of gifts. Miyori-senpai's mom was the first to give her gift, of course.

"Alright, it's our turn!" Tamaki-senpai said as we all stood up and gathered around the celebrant.

"It might be more than you expected since there were a lot of us, but here's what we promised you earlier, senpai," Kyouya-senpai said as Rin-senpai handed the ribboned envelope containing the money we earned for Miyori-senpai at her job.

"From all of us…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" we unisoned to the teary-eyed senpai as she happily received it.

"Awww, thank you guys," she told us. "I can't believe you worked too, Rin!"

"Hey, I'm not _that _lazy, y'know. Besides, a group effort ain't that hard," Rin-senpai replied coolly, but Miyori-senpai just smiled, because she knew what she really meant.

After that, it was time for the celebrant to give her message. Miyori-senpai thanked each and every one of us by name, mentioning stuff we did that even we can't remember. It was nice to know that even the smallest acts didn't go unappreciated by her. When informed that Mori-senpai had not been part of the gift we gave her, she just said that him being there for her today was already a great gift. But little does she know what Mori-senpai has in store for her.

(Mori's POV)

"Hmm, since the stars are out now, the last part of our program is some stargazing!" Tamaki declared and we all filed out the house and into the Furisaki's small yard. I stared at the small dipper constellation as I inwardly commented how I was so not myself today. I bought her the pair of shoes she's always wanted, knowing that I'm currently on a commoner's budget, watched over and took care of her once I knew she was sick, and even agreed to play more mind games than my stamina can take. As far as I know, I'm only like this with Mitsukuni. Well, until now, that is. So I guess this is what happens when you love someone? You just end up wanting to do everything for them, even at your own expense.

This has also been a very weird day. I mean, ever since joining the Host Club, I've had lots of weird days. But being accused of taking advantage of Miyori is another level of weird in itself. I would never do that, though I'm sure my sleepy side must have thought otherwise. Good thing I fell asleep before it came to that. I sighed in relief at that thought, and then turned to look at Miyori. She just stood there, staring both in awe and longing at the star-spangled sky.

"Your father must be happy up there, watching you," I said as I stood beside her, making her jump in shock.

"Mori-kun! Don't surprise me like that!" She giggled as she grinned at me. "You know, that's what I always think of whenever I look at a starry night sky. That Dad is one of the brightest stars up there, just watching me and my mom." She turned to me. "How about you? What do you think of when you look at the stars?"

"That you think your dad is up there watching you." I felt heat seeping to my cheeks as I finally realized what I just said. It just came out of me, and it's unusual for me to say anything without thinking it through first. But Miyori just has this effect on me, I guess. When I turned to her, she was just staring at the ground wide-eyed, her face becoming redder by the second.

Sensing that I should break the ice, I cleared my throat and realized a second too late that that was such an awkward thing to do. "Uh…So, what did you wish for?"

She looked up slightly surprised. "W-well, I'm not supposed to tell you right? But I think you already know…" she replied rather sheepishly, which was not like her. Good to know I'm not the only one who isn't himself right now.

"I don't think I know," I said, feigning innocence.

"Well, I even raced for it, remember?"

"Ah, the shoes. Okay." I paused, thinking of an excuse to go back and get my present for her. "Excuse me, I'll go get some water." I went straight to the dining room where I left the paper bag containing the shoes, and then I went back to Miyori. I tapped her shoulder to make her turn around and held it up to her.

"Was this your wish?" I asked, unable to contain a small smile.

She took the paper bag with wide eyes and when she saw its contents, she gasped, shrieked, and jumped around in joy. Everyone's attention was then drawn to her, and she chose that moment, of all moments, to jump at me and wrap me in a tight embrace. I felt the blood rush to my head as I felt her head buried in my chest and her whole body pressed against mine.

"Thank you, thank you, thank youuuu!" she shouted childishly, then looked up at me with the biggest, sweetest smile I have ever seen on her.

Suddenly, shock and embarrassment washed over her face as her actions dawned on her. Immediately, she released her arms wrapped around me and hid half of her beet red face with the package I just gave her.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I don't know why I did that! Ahh, I'm so stupid!" She pounded her head with her fists animatedly, which I admit was very cute. But I still had to stop her, knowing she might actually knock herself out. I grabbed her wrists and she stopped and stared at me, bewildered.

"It's okay, I understand. You were just happy. It's your wish, after all," I calmly said, noting that everyone is watching.

As expected, some of them came to tease us, and all I could do was stare blankly at them while Miyori chased them off in a fit of flushed anger.

Then unconsciously, my thoughts went back to that moment where she held me in her arms. If no one else was around us, I would've hugged her back. But it's okay, it's enough for me to see her happy. That's all I want for this girl that I really love.

(Kyouya's POV)

I calmly jotted down notes as the others were being chased by furious, blushing Miyori-senpai. Now, the plan has progressed to a 99% success. It's about time.

"My turn."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Red

"Thank you so much, sir," I said politely as I bowed in front of the old man.

"Oh, no problem at all, Kyouya-san," he replied. "I should be thanking you for all that information, and for that brilliant suggestion. I'll see to it that he knows about this as soon as possible." He got up slowly, and I followed. "Well then, I must attend to my business now. Feel free to drop by again, okay?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be going now." I bowed once more by the doorway before exiting the house, unable to contain a smirk. Now that everything is almost in place, I'll just have to wait for the final trigger, which is Miyori-senpai. And even if things don't go according to plan, I've always had a Plan B from the beginning. Well, let's just hope this one works.

(Haruhi's POV)

"Hey Tamaki-kun, where's Kyouya-kun?" Miyori-senpai asked the Host Club president, who was seated in the front seat of Kyuugetsu-san's car. With Kyouya-senpai's directions in Tamaki-senpai's phone, we headed to Hikaru and Kaoru's apartment. As always, all the guys were seated at the back of the truck while us girls sat here in the backseat. It's been more than a week since Miyori-senpai's birthday, and we had just finished the house visits to all the SC members yesterday.

"Well, he called this morning and said his father had required him to be present at a meeting in Paris yesterday, and they're still on their way back today," Tamaki-senpai replied. "But I pity him, because he's missing out on all the fun!" I saw him in the side mirror grinning and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't you mean your stupidity, senpai?" I said bluntly, dismissing the wailing blond as everyone else snickered.

"Hey Tamaki-kun, are the Host Club members' apartments near each other?" asked Kazumi.

"Nope. I had us all in good distances from each other so we can really feel the essence of independent commoner living!"

"So where do the others live?"

"For now, I only know of Hikaru and Kaoru's address, all because Kyouya sent it to me. And Haruhi's too, because we went there last year. For the others, Kyouya's got all the details."

"Well I'm sure Miyori knows where Mori lives," Rin-senpai stated, and immediately, teasing stares shot at her from all of us, well except for Kyuugetsu-san, because he had to keep his eyes on the road.

"W-well, I guess I do, but it's only because he and Hunny-kun walked home with me from school," Miyori-senpai said, clearly trying to hide the blush on her cheeks with a passive tone.

"So senpai, has he asked you out already?" the ever-curious Kazumi asked, making Miyori-senpai's face as red as her crimson hair.

"O-of course not, idiot!" she instantly shrieked in defense.

"You calling me an idiot?" Rin-senpai grumbled as she threw a fist at Miyori-senpai, who blocked it easily with one hand. "You owe me a lot for always making me cringe with your lovey-dovey sweetness with that pillar. You're together so much that it's like you're glued to each other."

"You're not going out with him, senpai?" Kazumi asked.

"N-no, I'm not. Seriously guys, we're not dating or anything!" Miyori-senpai said in frustration.

"But it sure looks like it," I commented, and everyone except Miyori-senpai gave an affirming nod.

"Indeed. You two have become so close that it's hard not to notice," Tamaki-senpai stated.

"You like him, don't you?" Rin-senpai asked, squinting her eyes at the girl on the hot seat.

Miyori-senpai avoided her gaze. "W-well, what kind l-like do you mean?" she asked, unknowingly giving herself away by stuttering like that.

"Y'know what I mean. Stop feigning innocence, all of us can see it. With how close you two are, we're surprised you aren't married yet at this point."

"You've got to be kidding me, Rin!" Miyori-senpai replied in a huff and turned away from us to hide her flustered face. We all continued to tease her though, each of us recounting all the times we've seen them spend time together these past few weeks. And even the little things, like all the subtle staring at each other from across the room, or the isolated conversations when they could've just stayed with everyone, or even the way they always stood close, as if their bodies just gravitated towards each other. Rin-senpai sure was right about what she said.

Soon enough, Kyuugetsu-san pulled up in front of an apartment building, and we all got down from his car. Mori-senpai held the door open for us, or maybe just for Miyori-senpai. I don't know why he hasn't asked her out yet or vice versa, since it's pretty clear they feel the same way about each other. I don't know much about love yet, but even I can tell. I sighed. I hope he'll be able to ask her out soon.

(3rd POV)

"I want seconds!" Tamaki exclaimed at Miyori, who was serving rice for their little dinner in the Hitachiin's apartment. Kyouya, who had just arrived straight from the airport, also passed his empty bowl to Miyori. Since the twins' food supply was more than they could consume for the rest of the summer, the group decided to have dinner there. They were done goofing around in the apartment the whole afternoon, with Mori and Miyori subconsciously avoiding each other as much as possible.

Miyori couldn't take her thoughts off Rin's statements this morning, and didn't want any more teasing with him around, because she was afraid he might find out about her feelings. And brave as Miyori usually is, she was strangely scared of the thought of him knowing just how she felt about him.

But for Mori, even seeing Miyori was the most painful thing in the world. Her sweet and vibrant smile, the spark in her eyes, and everything that made her who she was—that would all soon disappear from his world. All because of a stupid tradition.

Of all times for his father to decide on it, why did it have to be now? Now, when he was finally so happy. Now, when he finally found someone he wants to love for the rest of his life. The very thought of letting her go gripped his heart so tight he found it hard to breathe.

"Takashi, won't you have seconds?" Hunny asked, snapping his cousin out of his reverie. It was then that Mori noticed he'd been staring at his empty bowl this whole time. He shook his head, trying his best to mask the pain in his eyes knowing his feelings and thoughts were always crystal clear to Hunny. He probably even knows about it by now, though Mori never had the courage to tell even his closest cousin about it.

"Takashi, is there something bothering you? Do you wanna talk about it?" Yup, he knew, alright. And this was his way of telling Mori that this is something he can't keep hidden forever, and it would be best if the others knew about this from him. Everyone gradually fell silent as they looked at Mori, who hung his head low and heaved in a breath.

"I'm getting engaged."

(Miyori's POV)

I froze. Everything else seemed to, as well. A sharp pain drove through my chest, hindering any movement. I just sat there and stared at the floor. After he uttered those words, I just went deaf and numb. With hurt. Because I didn't see it coming. Even though I was well aware of the fact that arranged marriages are still a thing among the elite, and it was only a matter of time before even Mori-kun had to be put through that as well. But I forgot. No, I _chose _to forget. I even chose to forget who he really is—an elite, a Morinozuka, an existence from a world many, many lightyears from mine. I chose to forget that mere commoners like me don't have a place in that world.

And why did I forget? Because I didn't stop myself from loving him. I didn't stop myself from hoping that maybe this one time, the rules could be changed just for us. But of course it won't. I should've known. I should've known everything was too good to be true. Even my parents warned me about this. They were both so in love and so happy, and yet look what happened to them.

I couldn't even blame Mori, or even that stupid tradition that elites have. He's just doing the right thing, by obeying the authority he is under. The only person I could really blame is myself. If I had stopped myself, if I had been careful, then I wouldn't be shattered right now. _I want to go home. I want to disappear._

Thinking up an excuse, I discreetly brought out my phone and played a ringtone. As I brought it up to my ear, I stopped the music, pretending to answer a call.

"Mom?" I said, forcing down the lump in my throat. "Oh, right. Sorry, Mom. Yes, we just finished eating. Yeah. Okay, Mom. I'll be home right away. Bye." I put my phone back into my pocket and turned to everyone, careful to avoid looking at Mori because I was scared I'd break down if I made eye contact with him.

"I have to go home now, bye guys," was all I said to them, and I dashed home as fast as I possibly could, not wanting any of them to catch up to me. Especially not him. I couldn't even bear to hear his name right now, or even so much as see him. Because what's the point? He can no longer be mine.

(3rd POV)

"What?! This early?! I mean, you _are _of marrying age but this is preposterous!" Tamaki bellowed a few moments after Miyori left.

"Father told me last night, and he was serious," was Mori's reply. A reverent silence fell upon the rich people in the group. They understood how nearly impossible it is to escape marriage arrangements.

"So, who's the lucky girl, senpai?" one of the twins said sarcastically.

"Takanashi Izumi," Mori replied.

"Ah, I know her," Kyouya said. "I've heard from many reliable sources that she's very skilled in kendo, considering her family specializes in it just like Mori-senpai's. She seems nice and well-mannered in public eye, but my sources say that she's the complete opposite behind the scenes. According to one informant, there was this one time she fired a butler just because he was 2 minutes late in serving her cup of tea. And she didn't even give him his severance pay."

"Isn't there any other way you can choose someone else, Takashi?" Hunny asked with concern.

"Actually, there is," Mori answered, making everyone perk up with hope. "Father said that a masquerade ball will be held, and I can choose who I wish to be engaged to during that time."

"So, anyone can join?" asked Kazumi.

Mori grimaced. "No, only daughters of the elite were invited by my father. And if I don't choose among them, I'll have to marry Izumi-san." The hopes on everyone's faces vanished.

"Well, there goes President's chances," commented Nagato.

"Yeah, unless Miyori-senpai is surprisingly related to an elite," Kazumi said. Mori's ears rung. Miyori? How did she get into the topic? Did everyone perhaps know how he felt about her? Well, Mori figured it didn't really matter now.

"No, there must be a way! I hate sad endings!" Tamaki whimpered.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Mori said with a pained smile as he stood up, excused himself, and headed for the door. Hunny followed him after excusing himself.

"This sure is painful to watch," Kyuugetsu said, breaking the condoling silence that spread among them after Mori and Hunny left.

"Yeah," Hikaru said.

"We can't do anything about Miyori-senpai not being an elite," Kaoru continued.

"Unless we turn Miyori into one," Rin stated, and it was as if a light bulb lit up in their heads simultaneously. Hopeful smiles spread all around.

"That's it! Brilliant idea, Rin-senpai!" Tamaki proclaimed as he sprung up from his seat. "Since we all know that Miyori-senpai would join the ball if given the chance, we'll help her become an elite!"

"But what if she doesn't want to?" Kazumi asked, to which Rin smirked.

"Leave that to me."

(Hunny's POV)

"I'll brush my teeth, Takashi," I told my cousin as I stood with him in front of my door. His face remained stoic, but I could see the pain in his eyes so clearly. Gently, I took one of his hands in mine. "Takashi, I'm here for you, okay?"

I hoped that would make him feel like talking to me, but he just nodded and entered his room. I entered my room, devastated at the turn of events. Takashi was finally so happy. I could tell just from the way his eyes always softened when he looked at Miyo-chan that he had finally found his happiness, the love of his life. So I can only imagine just how painful this is for him. I wouldn't be surprised if I hear him crying from the next room for several nights.

At least I've let him know that I'm always here for him whenever he wants to lean on me. Takashi has never really been the type to depend on people, and even with how close we are, he'd never come to me about his problems. I just don't want him to go through this alone, and I'll take any chance I get to make him feel comfortable in confiding to me. Takashi may be strong, but he's also such a gentle person who could never bear the thought of hurting those he loves. It's why I know he'd never be able to go against his father or his family about this, even at his own expense.

But somehow, even though everything seems so hopeless, I can't help but feel that everything will turn out fine. I don't know yet where I'm getting that kind of hope, but I really hope it's real. For now, I can just hope that Takashi gets some sleep tonight.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Of Choices and Dances

(Miyori's POV)

"MIYORI!" I woke up to the sound of Rin screaming my name so loud I swear the whole neighborhood could have heard it. I sat up in bed as I glanced at my alarm clock. 10 am. Well, at least it's my day off.

After changing into a shirt and jeans, I fixed my hair in the mirror, hoping nobody notices the heavy bags under my eyes, especially not Rin. I ran down the stairs and opened the door. Rin wasn't alone. She brought everybody else with her. I flashed them a smile immediately, desperate to keep it cool in front of them after last night.

"Oh hey guys! Is it my turn for the house visit already?" I asked cheerfully, but Rin stepped closer to me, squinting her eyes at mine in wrath. "Uh…yes, Rin?"

"We've been burning out here for an hour, you dimwit. If you hadn't been crying all night, this wouldn't have happened," she grumbled.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "And you have the nerve to call me a dimwit in _my _territory."

"Yeah, whatever. Move it, we're going in whether you like it or not." She took a step forward, but I blocked her.

"Well this is my house. I may or may not allow you to go in. And I choose not to."

"Yes. Well, I may or may not tell your mom that you were home late last night because you were out partying and we picked you up from the police station for doing drugs. And I'll choose to tell her that if you don't let us in this instant."

I snorted. "Yeah, right. As if my mom would believe that."

"Kyouya," she said, turning to the bespectacled guy who handed her a bag of what looked like cocaine and a piece of paper. She waved the paper at my face, which I saw to be a very realistic police report of me being found possessing and using coke.

I groaned as I dealt the smirking brunette a cold hard glare. "I don't know how you did that but okay, you win this time." I stepped aside for them to enter, and we gathered in our small dining room. Mori-kun's absence was way too noticeable for me to bear.

"So, what do you want this time, Rin?" I asked her as she positioned herself in front of me.

"It's not what I want that is in question right now. It's what _you _want."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You still have a chance, you know."

I scoffed. "A chance? What, I'm going to break into their wedding and stop it or something? Yeah, right. Like that would work." I shook my head with a pained smile. All chances were thrown out the window the minute we were born into our respective worlds. So what is she even talking about?

But Rin just hardened her gaze at me, the same look she has whenever she tries to convince me of something. "There's going to be a masquerade ball, and Mori is given a chance to choose then. But if he doesn't choose, then Takanashi Izumi it is." Oh, so she's the lucky girl, huh.

"Let me guess, only rich girls like her could attend, right?" Rin nodded. "Sooo…where's my chance?"

Rin shrugged her shoulders. "It's a masquerade ball. No one's gonna be able to tell who you are if you go as someone else. And if they'll need papers, Kyouya's got that handled. You've already seen how good he is at authenticating documents."

"Wait, I'm going to join the ball?"

"Yeah. Don't you want to?"

"Rin, that's just insane. I—"

"Do you want to?"

"But Rin, it's—"

"Answer my question, damn it!" she said with a furious slam of her hands on the table. "Do you want to or not?" She held me in a frustrated glare, telling me to be honest with her once and for all.

I relented. "Okay, fine. I do! I want to!" I dropped my gaze, but not before seeing a grin slowly spreading on Tamaki, Kazumi, and the twins' faces as they cupped their red cheeks.

"So you _do _love him~!" they squealed, making me more embarrassed.

"O-okay, you're right! Just shut up about it already!" I yelled at them.

Suddenly, the door opened. "Wow, it's so lively in here!" I looked up in surprise as Mom greeted us and seated herself around the table, too.

"Mom! Sorry for all the noise, you must've been asleep," I said to her.

"It's quite alright, honey. I like the house better this way," she said cheerily.

"How long have you been up, Mom?"

"Well, since your friends entered the house. You've been having quite an interesting conversation here, now have you?" Just as I opened my mouth to explain. "No need to explain, dear. I understand everything just fine."

"So, Mori-kun, huh?" She eyed me knowingly. "I think he's a nice guy, and I like him already. So this plan of yours is completely fine with me. He would make a great son-in-law." She giggled sweetly, but I could only flush red. Great, even my mom is teasing me too.

I opted to change the topic immediately. "W-well, maybe we can make them believe that I'm an elite with the documents and the way I look, but they'll definitely find me out with everything else. I know nothing about acting like an elite!"

As if on cue, Tamaki-kun stepped up on the table and pointed his thumb to his chest. "That's why we're here, Miyori-senpai!" He pointed to the Host Club's vice president. "Kyouya! Any information on the ball?"

Kyouya-kun adjusted his glasses. "The information I have thus far is that the first part of the ball would be just like any other ball, with the usual dining and dancing. Within that period of time, Mori-senpai is given the freedom to choose." He opened his mysterious notepad thingy to read from it. "If he is not able to choose, the whole ball turns into a contest. The etiquette, manners, and bearing will be judged from the first part. They will test knowledge during the second part. Questions will be projected on a big screen, and only those who get 5 mistakes or below may proceed to the next part—the test of skill. As of now, there is no information available for this part, but I'm sure it has something to do with your martial arts skills."

Tamaki nodded. "Alright! I will be in charge of training Miyori-senpai for the etiquette stuff, along with my disciple, Kazumi."

The girl in question stood up in full alert and held up a salute. "Aye, aye, sir!" she said in a cutesy cat-like voice, imitating a certain anime character.

"Kyouya, you'll be in charge of Miyori-senpai's documents. Also, you and my beloved daughter Haruhi will be in charge of tutoring her on things she doesn't already know."

"Hunny-senpai and Rin-senpai," Tamaki-kun called the attention of the two bickering with each other. Again. "You two will be in charge of Miyori-senpai's training for kendo and judo. I'll leave it up to you two to divide the tasks."

"I'll train you on judo then, Miyo-chan~!" Hunny-kun said as he lunged at me and wrapped his petite yet strong arms around my neck.

"Hitachiin twins." Tamaki-kun snapped his fingers at the two. "You'll be in charge of her apparel, hair, and makeup."

"Yes!" the twins cheered, glad that they get to do what their family is most known for. They immediately started to discuss the dress, huddling into one corner of our room with pencils and paper.

"How about us?" the SC members asked with eager smiles.

Tamaki-kun thought for a bit. "Um…Oh! Some of you can act as her escorts and bodyguards, and some can assist in our preparations for Miyori-senpai's training, like maybe buying any materials we need, okay?"

"Yes, sir!" they replied.

"When's the ball, Kyouya?"

"Approximately two weeks from now," he replied.

"Yosh! We have plenty of time, but we'll start right away!"

"Wait!" I interrupted. "Mom, can I—"

"Of course, dear," my mom immediately answered. "But just take it easy, okay?" I nodded in reply.

Before I knew it, Tamaki-kun and Kazumi-chan started teaching me ball dances in our front yard. Kyouya-kun was busy making schedules for my trainings, Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun already had a bunch of designs for my gown and mask, Rin and Hunny-kun were sparring, and the SC members were busy gathering books for Haruhi to study.

Just last night, I had given up on everything. But there was one thing I forgot. I wasn't alone. I had them. Again, I had depended too much on myself, unwilling to even accept any help. But just like Mori-kun, they've taught me that it is okay to rely on others every now and then. Especially at time like this, when the battle is too big to fight alone.

As I sat down for a break, I looked up at the sky. _"Dad, I wish you could meet these awesome people," _I thought as I looked around at all my friends. _"Well I guess you already have, since you're always watching over me. And it's really nice to know that they're watching over me too."_

(Mori's POV)

"Mori-senpai," Kyouya spoke over the phone. "How are the preparations going for the ball?"

"It's going well," I replied.

"Mori-senpai, may I ask if you have any information on the ball that you are allowed to give?"

I told him the details that my father had approved of giving to all the elite families who asked about it. That was 3 hours ago. Ever since, I found myself lost in thought. I wonder whose house they were visiting now? I wonder what they're doing? Well, whatever it is, it will forever remain a mystery. I couldn't get away from the preparations at all, and all this time, I had to pretend that I didn't want to be anywhere else.

I never knew I'd feel this way, but I suddenly miss everyone. I still see Mitsukuni every day, at least, because he always comes by to make sure I'm okay. But I know it's not so easy for the others, since they probably don't know how to approach me at times like these. But Mitsukuni always tells me how everyone is missing me, too.

What I'd give to just be with everyone right now, especially with Miyori. To think that just a few days ago, everything seemed so perfect. But now, I don't even know what to say if I did see her again.

"Takashi, come here for a while," my father called, and I followed him to a room where they were having a meeting. I couldn't focus on the discussion, though. I couldn't help it. I was here, but my mind and heart was with them—laughing, goofing around, sitting beside the girl I love, watching her radiant smile, and smiling with her. It hurt how those days felt like years away now.

The first time I tried to convince my father not to go through with this, it didn't help one bit. When my father's mind is made up, nothing can change it. Even when I had confessed about being in love with Miyori.

"That's just puppy love, son. You'll get over it in time," was what he told me. But I knew it was more than that. If only there was something that could be done. But no matter how hard I think, there was just no way out of this.

(Miyori's POV)

"Well, how did your day go, sweetie?" Mom asked, and my answer was passing out on the floor.

"I have never been so tired in all my life," I huffed. "I never knew learning how to walk properly and dancing and slicing up your food would be so tiring.

Mom just laughed. "Tamaki-kun sure did wear you out."

"Tell me about it." I sighed and then we both laughed, remembering how Tamaki-kun kept twirling me around so much during ballroom dance lessons.

Being rich sure is tough, but I'll get the hang of this, like I always did with everything. Especially because in this case, I have a very important cause—Mori-kun. He'll probably never see this coming. Well, let's just see if he'll recognize me then.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Masquerade Ball

(3rd POV)

"Kyuugetsu, are you there yet?" Tamaki asked the driver over his phone.

"Just arrived, chief," Kyuugetsu answered as he pulled up to the red carpet entrance leading to the grand venue of the ball. He whirled around to the red-haired princess at the back of the limo. "We're here, Pres." As overwhelmed as he felt about getting to drive a limo for the first time, he could only guess how much more awesome this experience must be to their beloved student council president.

But all Miyori could think at the moment was to crawl into the void where she can never be seen again. Sure, the whole plan sounded great, and all the training she did just for this—just for him—was tiring yet the most fun she's ever had. But now that she was actually here, all her bravado flew out the window. Tamaki and Kazumi had said that the factor that pretty much outweighs manners, etiquette, and appearances is how you carry yourself—with confidence.

But right now, Miyori was anything _but _confident. Just looking at the other girls with their stately airs and confident poise made her feel so small. And that's not even taking into account the wealth, knowledge, fame, power, and influence that their names carried. But well, here she was, disguised as an elite named Suzuka Minami, and now she had to play the part. Well, she agreed to this in the first place, and she never backed down on her word.

Heart thumping and hands shaking, she heaved in the deepest breath before stepping out of the limo and onto the carpeted floor. She carefully ascended the stairs leading to the door in the most elegant way possible, mentally chanting the mantra Tamaki and Kazumi had drilled into her head these past two weeks. _Chin up, back straight, breast out, stomach in, shoulders back. Pretend you're walking in a straight line. Give a calm but friendly smile. _

As per their other teachings, Miyori bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement to anyone she made eye contact with, which was almost everyone she passed. They probably glanced at her longer because she was an unfamiliar face, but she also couldn't deny that the Hitachiin twins had outdone themselves with her dress and mask.

The first time she saw it, she swore she didn't deserve to wear something so breath-taking. It was a dress fit only for a princess, but since she had to pretend to be one for a night, she got her one-in-a-million chance to wear such a masterpiece. Not only was it incredibly beautiful, but it was clear that the twins gave a lot of thought to it. They even made an exact copy of the whole outfit just for testing.

Hikaru and Kaoru instructed her that in case things had to come down to a physical battle, the floor-length layers of light and billowy cloth that made up the skirt part of the dress could be removed. They only attached it to the main bodice with simple stitches and a large, butterfly-shaped hair clamp clipped on the skirt hem so she could tear it off with ease. She could then use that hair clamp to "stylishly keep her hair up", as the twins had said. She could also remove the snug-fitting sleeves on her shoulders, leaving her with a silky thigh-high tube dress that hugged her body perfectly. For added mobility, a slit ran up to almost her entire left leg. The dress was so amazingly beautiful that after they tested it out, Kazumi immediately tried on the tester dress and even offered to buy it.

"Whoa! Pres, you're so beautiful!"

"I can't even recognize you anymore, Pres!"

"How did Hikaru and Kaoru do this? It's like you're an entirely new person!" were just some of the reactions from the SC members as they stared at Miyori's final form just before going to the ball.

"Guys, it's still me, you know," Miyori had replied, but she inwardly admitted that even she couldn't recognize herself. Hikaru and Kaoru really proved themselves to be talented with these kinds of things.

As Miyori seated herself after greeting all the girls in her table, she pursed her lips into the smallest smile as she remembered those long hours of harsh kendo training and trash talking from Rin, the even harsher judo training from Hunny, and the mind-draining study sessions with Kyouya and Haruhi.

Recalling Tamaki's warnings against smiling to oneself amidst a group, Miyori immediately switched back her thoughts to the girls she was seated with, and back to the fact that the Morinozukas were watching her as well. She straightened up and put on her calm yet accommodating façade. Not long after, Mori's father stepped out and welcomed and acknowledged everyone. Then dinner was served, and along came questions from her tablemates.

"Wow, that's a very nice dress. That's either Furuko's or Hitachiin's, isn't it?" asked the brunette seated to Miyori's right.

"Thank you, it's the Hitachiin's work," was Miyori's simple reply, and a slight look of awe flashed across the other girl's eyes. "Fukushima Rika, right? A pleasure to meet you." Miyori extended bowed slightly, grateful that Kyouya also drilled her on everyone that's likely to be present tonight.

"You're Suzuka Minami, right? Of the Suzuka Hotels?" asked the other girl to her left.

"Yes, I am. And you're Kawashima Sachiko of the Kawashima Airlines, if I'm not mistaken?" The girl nodded to Miyori's question and they exchanged bows.

"So, were you guys forced to this, as well?" As soon as Rika asked that, Miyori's mind went blank. She didn't know how to answer that. She would hate to lie about it, but the truth would complicate things so much more. Sachiko had given her answer, and now the girls' eyes fell on her.

Miyori gave a vague smile. "Well, let's just say I wanted to do this. I love my family, and this is what they wanted for me, so I obeyed. I guess I'll learn to love Morinozuka Takashi-san as time passes, that is, if I be chosen." Half lies, or as Tamaki would call it, "a diplomatic answer". They always work like a charm.

Seemingly satisfied, or even impressed, by her answer, Rika and Sachiko proceeded chatting with each other. Miyori continued eating in peace, trying her best not to let her mind wander to Mori, lest she be caught showing more emotions than a formal event like this requires. Miyori popped some mints into her mouth after she was done eating. After everyone else finished, the plates were put away. Then, the lights slowly dimmed and a spotlight shone upon the dark-haired prince descending the stairs. Miyori's heart leapt at the sight of him, both in nervousness and longing. She took a deep breath. _Well, this is it._

"The dance is starting!" Hunny exclaimed as everyone else huddled around the Fujiokas' TV. Kyouya and the twins had secretly attached a hidden camera among the colourful gems on Miyori's mask, and another one was disguised as a necklace pendant that she was wearing. With those, everyone had been able to watch everything unfolding. Now, they watched as Mori danced with the third girl he's picked so far.

"Hey guys, have you noticed that Mori-senpai has only been choosing redheads to dance with?" Kazumi commented, and they noted it to be true.

Suddenly the twins gasped. "He's heading towards Miyori-senpai!" The moment Miyori took his hand, almost everyone in the room squealed in delight.

"Well, let's just hope that Mori-senpai recognizes her," Kyouya stated.

Rin scoffed. "When she's _this _pretty? I highly doubt it."

"Hm. She could just tell him now that it's her, and this whole thing will be over and done with," Kyouya said thoughtfully.

But at the back of Rin's mind, she knew that things wouldn't happen that way.

(Mori's POV)

Women dressed in extravagant gowns and masks entered the venue one by one, and slowly, the chairs were occupied. After my father welcomed them, dinner was served and Part One officially started. Father, Mother and the other higher-ranked people of our clan observed the girls' etiquette and manners for this part, and we watched behind behind the dark tinted windows on the top floor, using state-of-the-art cameras if they needed to zoom in on them.

Soon, Father told me it was time for me to go down and dance with each of the girls to choose from any of them. As I descended the stairs, I couldn't help but scan the room for those familiar locks of scarlet hair. I still hadn't given up hope that she might be here. Logically, there would be no way for her to join this.

But the feeling that she's somewhere here had gotten unreasonably strong since earlier. So I decided to dance with every redhead I see first, and when I'm sure that none of them is Miyori, I'll proceed to the ones remaining. I took the hand of the fourth redhead I've chosen, and keenly observed her and stared through her mask. Nope, still not Miyori.

I escorted her back to her seat after we, or rather she, made some small talk, and proceeded to the next one—the one wearing, so far, the most impressive gown I've seen tonight. It was of Hitachiin level, and the bearer's wavy red hair seemed to blend into the scarlet dress.

Then, when I took her hand, something about it felt very familiar. Even her warmth felt familiar when I pulled her close as we danced. And for a moment, I didn't know what to say. It suddenly felt awkward to make introductory exchanges with her. But remembering my manners, I flashed a host smile and proceeded to start a conversation.

"What's your name?" I asked as accommodatingly as I could.

"I'm Suzuka Minami. It is an honor to meet you, Morinozuka Takashi-san," she replied with a voice that sounded similar to Miyori's, but more regal and refined. Then she gave me a small polite smile that suddenly reminded me of the rare smile Miyori made whenever she became sentimental.

"The pleasure is mine, Suzuka-san. If I'm not mistaken, 3 of your hotels just became 5-star last year."

"Well, yes. Father has been working hard."

"Congratulations on your success."

"Thank you. And I commend the outstanding, long-term success of your family as well."

"Thank you." After that, both of us had nothing to say. I took that chance to look into her eyes, hoping for that pair of emerald green eyes to look back into mine. But I found myself drowned in a set of blue orbs, and I was dismayed. But nevertheless, there are about five more redheads I haven't danced with yet. And if she's really not here, I still have a whole night to either wait for a miracle like Father changing his mind about the whole thing, or muster up all my courage to tell him that I won't agree to this or any engagement if it's not with Miyori.

The three minutes of dancing that I estimated for each girl ended, and I escorted Suzuka-san back to her table. But the moment I let go of her hand, I felt somehow troubled. As if something was telling me that letting go of her was a big mistake. But I dismissed the thought, and proceeded to dance with the next redhead I saw. After all, Suzuka Minami is not Miyori.

(Miyori's POV)

A hint of recognition flashed through Mori-kun's eyes as he pulled me close to dance. But he must've dismissed the thought that it was me, because it is illogical for a commoner like me to even be here. When he asked for my name, how I wanted to tell him. But I couldn't. I could only answer his questions according to who I was pretending to be at the moment.

When a moment of silence fell on us, he looked straight into my eyes, as if searching for the emerald green that my eyes had. And I saw the look of disappointment in his face when he found himself staring into the blue of my contact lenses, which I was tasked to wear to complete my disguise. How I wanted to just take the contact lenses off and tell him it was me.

But I just couldn't say it. Everything he's done for me flashed through my mind, and though he's been teaching me to lean on others once in a while, this was something I couldn't keep depending on him. If I told him who I am, he might have chosen me, but then it would be up to him to defend his choice to his father.

So I had to keep up the Suzuka Minami act. I want to prove myself deserving of him. This is the least I could do to show my gratitude to him, and to everyone else who helped me get here. All the training and effort would've been for nothing if I said it. Besides, I'm not the type of person to just get something I didn't earn.

(Rin's POV)

"What? They're done dancing already?" Nagato complained as we watched Mori escort Miyori back to her table.

"Wait, Pres could've just told Mori that it was her, and he would've just chosen her and it's happy ever after. But why didn't she?" Shuuya asked. Well, I don't know about them, but I expected this. Knowing Miyori, I knew she wouldn't say it.

"Well, it's either she wants to prove herself deserving to be chosen by Mori-senpai, or she wants to go through all the stages because our effort in training her would've been in vain if she didn't," Kyouya explained. Then they turned to me for some sort of confirmation.

"Actually, it's both," I said simply. Tamaki, Kazumi, the twins, and Mitsukuni cupped their red cheeks.

"Aww~ so sweet of her~!" they swooned. They never failed to annoy me with that. Soon, they stopped their stupid squealing and everyone settled back to watch Mori dance with all the remaining girls.

"So, is Mori-senpai doing better now, Hunny-senpai?" Tamaki suddenly asked so thoughtfully that I couldn't believe the question came from such an obnoxious person as him.

"Well, it's still pretty hard to make him open up about it, but it's always been like this," Mitsukuni replied with a sullen look that I never imagined would be on that always-smiling face of his.

"Well, I do hope he knows we're always here for him."

"Don't worry, he does. This is just his own way of dealing with things, especially with something this serious. I'm always making sure that he knows we're concerned for him too and we have his back as much as we have Miyo-chan's. And last night, I guess he couldn't bear it anymore so he came to talk to me about it. That's why he seems kind of okay tonight, but I know he really isn't." Mitsukuni's expression suddenly changed to his usual cheeriness. "Just don't tell him I told you about all this, okay~?"

Tamaki promptly nodded and they turned back to the TV, while my eyes had been glued to it the whole time. Because I can't wait to see what happens next.

(Mori's POV)

I couldn't take my mind off Suzuka Minami. As I danced with all the other girls, I just kept on bothered by the air of familiarity around her, even though she doesn't look or act anything like Miyori.

Finally, it was time to end the dance with the last girl. I made my way up the stairs to inform my father that I couldn't choose from any of them, signalling the shifting of this masquerade ball into a contest. But as I climbed up the steps, my mind kept going back to that girl. Suzuka Minami.

I shook my head. She's not Miyori. She can't be Miyori. She may have a slightly similar smile, but who knows how many look-alikes Miyori has. I stepped into our heavily tinted room and approached my father.

"Father, I could not choose from any of them," I told him. He nodded in response to one of our men.

"Begin Part Two."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Battle

(Miyori's POV)

A sigh of relief could not help but escape me as I watched Mori-kun climb back up the stairs alone. I still had a chance, thank goodness. A few moments after he disappeared from our sight, the butlers who served our dinner started handing out pens and answer sheets. Once again, Mori-kun's father stepped out.

"Everyone," he spoke. "Since my son was not able to choose among you, I am here to announce the commencement of the second part of tonight's event." Behind him, a huge projector screen rolled out. "In your hands right now are answer sheets and pens to be utilized to answer the questions that will be flashed on this screen. You will answer by shading the circle of the correct letter. X marks, check marks, or any marks other than shading will be counted as mistakes. Only those with five mistakes or below will be qualified to participate in the next part of the program. Thank you and good luck." The old man exited and after he was gone, the first question flashed on the screen. _Well, here goes nothing._

(3rd POV)

"Shuuya-senpai! Kyuugetsu-senpai! Get yourselves together!" Kazumi shrieked at the two SC members who were lying on a pool of blood from their nosebleeds.

"Questions are too hard…I can't even answer one of them…I'm doomed to being an idiot forever…" Kyuugetsu muttered to himself.

"Don't grieve for our death, Kazumi-chan…" Shuuya said with a weak cough. "This is a fitting death for idiots like us…"

Kazumi pouted. "What in the world are you talking about, senpais?"

They pointed shaky fingers at Haruhi and Kyouya, who were seated right in front of the TV and getting every question right in a matter of seconds, barely even blinking in the process. Kazumi sighed. No wonder Shuuya and Kyuugetsu were acting this way.

"Well instead of moping and being the idiots that you are, I say you move your arses over there and learn!" Rin barked at the two. Immediately, they did as they were told, sitting still beside Haruhi and Kyouya and listening to the answers they gave to each question. After a while, the series of high-difficulty questions ended.

"It's over?" Kyouya and Haruhi commented disappointingly as they stared flatly at the screen, not even feeling that the questions were difficult at all.

"It's over!" shrieked Shuuya and Kyuugetsu, happily throwing their hands up in the air.

"You didn't even learn a thing, you airheads!" Rin yelled with a strong kick that sent the two flying in the air. She opened her mouth to continue her lecture when a cake-filled spoon was suddenly shoved into her mouth.

"Alrighty~! It's cake time, Rin-chan~!" Hunny beamed at her as she mumbled in protest. "Don't worry, they're smarter than they think~!"

"You bloody cake addict! How many times have I told you to stop doing that!" she yelled at the grinning boy.

Hunny giggled. "Sorry, Rin-chan. You're just so cute when you're angry~!" Rin just facepalmed at his statement, strategically hiding the blush she felt creeping up her face. She turned back to the TV to distract herself with thoughts of Miyori and her score.

"Whatever. I just hope that idiot passed."

(Miyori's POV)

"Announcing the names of those that have passed the test," a butler said as he read from a piece of paper in his hands. "Please stand as I call your names."

Knuckles white, I listened intently and waited for my alias. I may not be as smart as Kyouya or Haruhi, but I gave it my best. I've always believed in doing my best to be the best. But I slowly lost hope as three more names got called on, my name not being one of them. I guess sometimes, things just don't work out that way. Maybe my best just wasn't enough. Maybe—

"Suzuka Minami!" My ears rung. Did I hear that right? Did he say my alias? "Suzuka Minami," he repeated firmly, to which I quickly responded by standing up. _I passed? _I couldn't believe it. I never expected to get even half of those correct. I just answered according to what I remembered from Haruhi and Kyouya. I tried hard to suppress a huge grin, remembering where I was.

The butler called two more names and ended there. Promptly, those that were still seated were escorted out the venue. Then, immediately after the doors were shut, the lights went out and it was just pitch black. _Is this the 3rd part Kyouya talked about? _It was naïve of me to have thought that it would just be a normal battle, but it would also be naïve of them if they think I wasn't prepared for this.

In the darkness, I reached for the hair clamp attached to my gown and ripped off the full-length skirt, just like we practiced. I used the clamp to fix my hair up in a loose bunch and ripped the sleeves off my arms. I also took out my contact before closing my eyes to enhance my other senses. I drew in a deep breath. I've trained blindfolded with the best judo and kendo teachers I know, so this should be no problem.

With my eyes closed, I can tell where the other girls were, and I felt the small whizzes of air here and there as the Morinozuka's men moved in for an attack. I could hear every movement near me too, so when I heard light footsteps behind me, I immediately ducked my head and flung my hand towards where the person's throat should be. It hit right where I expected, because the man made a choking sound and he staggered back. Before he could recover, I went behind him and twisted both his arms back, then I stole his wooden katana and smacked him on the base of his neck with the hilt. Two people came at me from the left and right, so I slid forward at the very last moment and heard them crash towards each other.

But in the height of the moment, I didn't notice the approach of someone behind me. I managed to dodge in time before his katana hit my head, but the impact cut off the string that held my mask in place. I whirled around on my knee and hit his feet with my katana, causing him to stumble and fall.

A few more people attacked me, almost surrounding me. But using everything Hunny-kun and Rin taught me, I managed to knock them all down. Dodging their attacks and retaliating when the moment is right, sometimes using their own attacks against each other, I finally made it.

And as if in confirmation of my victory, the lights went back on. The sudden brightness blinded me but after my sight cleared up, I looked around to see that I was the only one left standing. _I won? _I thought in happy disbelief as the other girls were escorted out the door. Then, I heard footsteps descending the stairs. I turned to its direction and saw that it was Mori-kun's father.

"Congratulations on making it this far," he said, but the look on his face wasn't congratulatory at all. Looking closely at him now, I could see Mori-kun's resemblance with him, but the air of confidence and aggression in his father set them apart.

"But there is one more part of this event that I didn't include in the program." He flashed a challenging smile at me. "In this final stage, you will have to defeat me in a duel for you to succeed." He took off the outermost coat of his tux and as he walked closer to me, he picked up a katana from one of his fallen men. "But you can still choose to concede now, Suzuka-san."

At that, I stood up straight and looked him in the eye, returning the challenging stare he gave me. _That's the one thing I won't do. _For a brief moment, I remembered the sight of Mori-kun's smile and the sound of his voice. I felt once again the warmth of loving him, which stoked the flames of my determination.

"I will not, Morinozuka-san."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Final Boss

(Mori's POV)

When the lights turned back on, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was only one girl standing—the girl I've been wanting to see for weeks, the girl I've been longing to be with again.

"Miyori," her name escaped my lips. With her mask off, I could see her face clearer. I should've known it was her. How could I have been so easily fooled by some contacts, makeup, and a mask? No wonder it felt so right to dance with Suzuka Minami. And no wonder I felt so bothered as I ascended the stairs without her.

But why was she here? Why would she go through all this trouble? _Could it be…? _No, she couldn't possibly feel the same way I do about her. Maybe this is everyone's way of helping me out of this? Or maybe—

I cut off my own thoughts as I realized what my father was about to do. _He's going to fight her. _Every part of me alarmed, I dashed down the flights of stairs leading to where they were. Miyori can't fight him. Even I am no match for him. She's going to get hurt, and that's the one thing I will not allow. It might be too late to stop them but I had to try.

"Miyori, don't!" I called out to her and she briefly locked eyes with me in surprise. "Please don't do this, you're going to get hurt!" I didn't even attempt to hide the worry in my voice and on my face. I've been known to be nonchalant all my life, but not this time. Not when Miyori's safety is concerned.

But Miyori did what I feared she would. With unrelenting determination, she answered, "I'm sorry, Mori-kun, but I've made my choice. And I'm not backing down from it." She gave me a small, contented smile that told me she regretted nothing.

I was about to run over and just take her away to spare her from all this, but Father's voice planted my feet to the ground.

"She's right, Takashi," he said with his back to me. "She already made her choice, so I would like it if you don't interfere." With a snap of his fingers, almost all of our men moved in on me all at once. These were the strongest men in our force, and I've defeated them all at least once in a duel, so I managed to take down a few of them. But I was no match for a unanimous attack from all of them, because they eventually managed to hold me down.

"Let me go! I command you!" I yelled angrily as I watched Father move in on Miyori for an attack.

"We're sorry sir, but we are under the orders of your father that we must not release you at all costs. And his orders are absolute," one of the men told me. My body weakened as all hope crumbled before me upon the realization that there was nothing I could do.

I helplessly watched as Miyori received blow after blow from Father's relentless and seasoned attacks. She managed to land some blows on him and defend herself at first, but soon enough, Father wore her down with the combat experience that she doesn't have yet. A sharp pain pierced my chest every time Miyori got hit, fell down, and forced herself to get back up.

"Stop it," I hissed through gritted teeth, eyes stinging on the verge of tears. As I watched Miyori become weaker and weaker, my mind told me what I needed to do. By the end of this duel, Miyori could get fatally injured. And right now, there was only one thing I could do to prevent that. It'll cost me my happiness, but I'm more than willing to give that up for Miyori.

As I gathered my strength to finalize my decision, I noticed that Miyori wasn't getting up. She just kneeled on the ground, holding on to her upright katana for support. It seemed she had reached her limit, and Father knew that too, because he slowly got into a stance I am all too familiar with—the stance of a move that almost paralyzed a few of our men before, including me. My eyes widened in fear. He can't use that on Miyori. We might have recovered from it, but she may never will.

"FATHER, STOP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs in hopes that it will distract him. And it did, because he abruptly turned to me. "Please, listen to me." I looked him square in the eye, letting him know that what I was about to say was important and I'm sure about it.

"I'm going to marry Takanashi Izumi!" A lump formed in my throat as I felt a tear dribble down my cheek. "So please, let Miyori go." I stared at my father's eyes pleadingly, desperately—something I've never done before.

Relief flooded me briefly as I watched him reconsider my offer. He even smiled, perhaps in victory that everything is going according to his wishes. "Okay then—"

"NO!" Miyori yelled, interrupting him. She raised her head weakly, just enough for me to see the tears in her strong-willed eyes. "I'm not giving up on you, Mori-kun!" she shouted with the strength she had left. How can she still go through with this? I'm sure she already knew she couldn't win this. So…why?

"Miyori, I can't let you do this—" I began to say, but her next outburst completely cut me off for good.

"I love you!" The world seemed to stop. _What? _"I love you, okay? So I sure as hell am not giving up on you now!" She looked straight at me with her tear-filled eyes, and I knew then that she meant what she said.

Suddenly, everything made sense. The way she acted around me lately, her running away when I told everyone about the engagement, her participation in this ball, and how determined she was right now. It all made sense.

That made the desperation in me to save her grow even more. She needed to know how I feel. She needed to know that her feelings are reciprocated. And most of all, I can't have her continue getting herself hurt because of me.

"Father, I meant what I said," I told him solemnly. Then I averted my gaze and looked Miyori in the eyes. "I love her, and I can't let her get hurt any longer."

The surprise was evident in her face, and I wanted to tell her that everything will be alright. I just wanted her to be safe, even if it meant my own happiness. But all I could do was smile at her, ignoring the dull pain in my chest as I imagined a life without her.

But the disbelief in her face once again turned to desperation. "Mori-kun, if you really love me, then let me do this." She said with a determination so set in stone, and I knew then that nothing I say could change her mind.

She tore her gaze from me and turned to my father. "Morinozuka-san, I still want to fight for your son. Please, let us continue the duel." It took every ounce of her strength to stand up and assume a fighting stance.

And when my father nodded in agreement and started walking towards her, I felt my heart drop in pure grief. Here it was. I was about to lose the one girl I've ever loved and all I could do was watch.

(Miyori's POV)

As I struggled to stand in front of Mori-kun's father, I felt my legs wobble. I knew that I only had an incredibly small amount of strength left, but the only thing keeping me going was Mori-kun. He felt the same way about me. So even if I die trying, I had to keep on fighting for him.

I tried to steady myself as Mori-kun's father approached me, but then he dashed at me and dealt me a blow so suddenly that I was easily brought down to my knees. I knew then that it was over for me, but I felt contented, knowing I had fought for Mori-kun up to the very last moment.

Mori-kun's father titled my chin up with the end of his katana, making our eyes meet. "You fought well, miss. But I'm afraid this is the end." He spoke in such a cool voice that it sounded as if defeating me took no effort on his part at all. Then, he raised his katana over my head and I just closed my eyes, only thinking of Mori-kun and the wonderful summer we spent together.

And then the strangest thing happened. I was prepared for a blow to the head, but all I heard was the sheathing of a katana. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was Mori-kun's father smiling proudly at me, his weapon back in its sheath.

"I concede," he said with a slight bow. "You've won. Congratulations, Suzuka Minami. Or should I say, Furisaki Miyori." He took my hands gently and helped me up while I wondered how he knew who I really was. "You have been a very formidable opponent and you showed a great deal of bravery, strength, and sacrifice today. And anyone who goes through that much certainly deserves to have my son, no questions asked."

With a snap of his fingers, his men released Mori-kun and in an instant, I was wrapped in his strong, safe arms.

"Miyori!" Mori-kun held me so tightly and urgently, as if afraid to let go of me again.

"Mori-kun," I said in relief as I returned his embrace as tightly as I could.

After a while, we loosened our grip around each other and Mori-kun looked over me with evident worry. "Miyori, you're badly hurt. We should take you to the infirmary—"

"No, no. It's okay. I'm okay. I'm alright, now that you're here." I gave him a genuinely assuring smile as I cupped his face in my hands, losing myself in his eyes. And before I knew it, I kissed him. And he kissed me back. It felt as natural as breathing, like it was the one thing we were meant to do. I was pretty sure I had a bruise on my mouth but the pain melted away in the soft caress of his lips.

When we finally pulled away, it was like the whole world had shifted. And when I looked back into his eyes, it felt like I'd known him my whole life, and I knew he felt the same.

We were only broken apart by a firm cough from none other than Mori-kun's father, clearly with the intention of interrupting us. I stifled a giggle, thinking about how awkward it must've been for him to see that.

"Takashi, I'm truly sorry for hurting Furisaki-san. And also for lying to you," he said.

Mori-kun's eyebrows knit in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I never planned on marrying you off to Takanashi Izumi-san. While her family is indeed a favorable match for ours, I've heard some rather…disconcerting rumors about her. Also, I was fortunate enough to have been allowed to marry for love, so I had to give you and your brother that chance as well. So when Kyouya-san told me of his plans for you and Furisaki-san, I agreed to it because I had to see it for myself, and I'm satisfied from what I've seen tonight." He gives us a gleeful smile.

_Wait, Kyouya-kun? _"Ah, and here he is now," Mori-kun's father said as he turned to his right, where Kyouya-kun and everyone else emerged from the pillars. "I'll let him explain everything to you. I apologize again for having to hurt you in the process, Furisaki-san." He gave a small bow and ascended the stairs, but turned back to look at me. "And welcome to the family."

I smiled and gave him a deep bow. "Thank you so much!" Then I took Mori-kun's hand in mine and turned to where Kyouya-kun was surrounded by everyone asking him questions.

Now all that's left was this.

(Kazumi's POV)

"Here, take a seat Miyori-senpai," I said as I dragged a chair towards her, seeing how badly she was hurt from the duel. Everyone else followed to get closer to her and Mori-senpai, but some of them were still asking about Kyouya-kun's plans.

"Thank you Kazumi-chan," my dear senpai said warmly at me, and I grinned happily. "By the way, you guys were here all along?"

"You can say that," Rin-senpai said, appearing at my side. "Kyouya and the twins had a spycam attached to your mask and your necklace."

Miyori-senpai looked down at the necklace in shock. "Really? I didn't even notice!"

"Yeah, that's why it's called a spycam, idiot."

Before they could bicker, I immediately swooped into the conversation. "Anyway, we saw everything, senpai!"

"_Everything," _Rin-senpai said slowly and mischievously, causing Miyori-senpai to blush. I giggled in bubbly delight as I recalled her and Mori-senpai's sweet confession towards each other and most of all, their kiss that set even my face on fire.

Miyori-senpai pointedly changed the topic. "But what are you guys doing here now?"

"We came right over when the lights went off, Pres," replied Nagato-kun.

"We were worried that something might happen to you," Shirota-senpai said.

"And I also had to get the limo ready in case you needed to be escorted home," Kyuugetsu-senpai stated.

"Yeah, but then you won and the lights went on again, and we heard about the final battle so we had to get in here~!" Hunny-senpai said excitedly.

"We got in pretty easily because of Mr. Fancypants over there," Rin-senpai pointed her thumb lazily at Tamaki-kun, who was still busy asking Kyouya-kun so many questions.

"Kyouya, what did he mean?" Mori-senpai suddenly asked, instantly silencing everyone else who was hovering over Kyouya-kun.

Miyori-senpai also turned to look at him, and he gave the pair a calm, reheared smile before directing his gaze at her. "Miyori-senpai, do you remember our deal in the beginning of summer?"

She straightened herself up in her seat. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well as you recall, it was all about who owes who more. We kept your free schedule a secret from the Olympics in exchange for you keeping Haruhi's real gender a secret. And we worked for your student council in exchange for you keeping our reputations clean."

"Yes, and you guys have fulfilled your end of the bargain," Miyori-senpai said.

"Indeed we have, so we are no longer indebted to you. But how about you?"

Miyori-senpai cocked her eyebrows at him. "What?"

Kyouya-kun pushed his glasses up, unable to contain a small smirk. "Sure, you saved Hunny-senpai from peril, but we've already paid you back for that by purchasing from your shop all summer. But what have you done in exchange for us helping you for this ball?"

Miyori-senpai just froze, eyes wide in shock. Even I was shocked too. I thought we were doing all that from the kindness of our hearts? I know I did.

Kyouya-kun took her silence as his cue to continue. "What, did you really think that was all for free? Well, the ball itself was free. The Morinozukas gladly footed the bill for it because it allowed them to show everyone that their next heir's fiancée is worthy. But the cost for your hair styling, makeup, gown, mask, the authenticated documents, not to mention mine and Haruhi's tutoring fee—those weren't for free."

"Wait, so when you told us that you'll pay for our services at a later time…" one of the twins said.

"…did you mean you were gonna make Miyori-senpai pay for it?" the other twin finished.

"But mother!" We did those for her from the goodness of our hearts! How could you—" Tamaki-kun started to say but he was instantly silenced with Kyouya-kun's icy glare.

"If you all let me finish, you'll see that it will benefit us all," he told them, and they immediately behaved. "You may not know this, but the Host Club needs more manpower to truly thrive. As of now, we only have hosts, and only Haruhi is available to serve our guests drinks and snacks. And although she will continue to do just that, one person simply isn't enough if we want to increase the number of guests we can accommodate per day." He turns to Miyori-senpai. "Which is why, Miyori-senpai, I propose this deal to you. To repay us for all the costs and labor that went into your preparation for this ball, you will work as a waitress in the Host Club until your debts are paid. I've already calculated all the costs here." He handed her a sheet of paper and we watched her turn pale.

"The—the dresses cost…how much…?" she said shakily.

"Wait a minute," Haruhi-chan spoke. "Wouldn't she have to be a student at Ouran to do that?"

"Yes," Kyouya-kun answered. "Which is why she will have to get into Ouran's college. And considering her scholastic and extracurricular achievements, not to mention her track and field skills and her new status as Mori-senpai's fiancée, I'm sure it will be easy for her to get in."

"Huh, that actually doesn't sound so bad, Miyori," Rin-senpai suddenly stated, breaking Miyori-senpai from her fear-stricken trance. "I mean, you get to go to that fancy school and you only have to be a waitress, which is something you already do." An evil glint crosses her eyes. "Also, Kyouya here promised me some money for your kendo training so you have to do it."

Miyori-senpai grimaced in annoyance at her. "Geez, fine. It doesn't look like I have a choice." Suddenly, her face shrouded with worry. "But wait, what about my mom? How am I supposed to take care of her?"

"I'll do something about that," Mori-senpai told her reassuringly. "I'll discuss it with Father soon, before college starts."

"So Miyori-senpai, do we have a deal?"

She looked at him in consideration, and I saw her finally relax and give him a grateful smile. "Deal."

And then she passed out. It was as if she just waited for all of her questions to be answered before giving in to her body's demands. We all immediately rushed over to her, but Mori-senpai was already in action, carrying her off to the infirmary like she was as light as a feather. We all followed suit and watched as the nurses tended to her. Mori-senpai told us that we can go home, and he thanked us for being there for him, and for Miyori-senpai. Hunny-senpai stayed behind to be with his cousin, and we all bid them goodbye, including Miyori-senpai, who was already sleeping soundly.

As we all headed home after a long night, my thoughts went back to Kyouya-kun. So this was his plan all along, huh? I did always notice that whenever some sort of development happened between Miyori-senpai and Mori-senpai, he would look at them schemingly and write something in his mysterious notepad thingy. One day, I'm gonna figure out what exactly he writes in there, but for now, I'm content in just discovering this plan of his, and this whole new side to him that I've never seen before.

I recalled the deal he made with Miyori-senpai, and after much thought, I concluded that it actually benefits Miyori-senpai more than it benefits him. He really stayed true to his purpose of only finding additional manpower for the Host Club. Meanwhile, for Miyori-senpai, this has opened so many doors, so many amazing opportunities for her. And it also gives Mori-senpai the opportunity to happily spend the rest of his days with her. This whole setup benefits everyone else way more than he thought, or maybe he has considered this all along. Maybe Kyouya-kun really isn't as greedy, selfish, and scheming as everyone else seems to think he is. Because in all this, I can see his good intentions, his good heart, so clearly, like a small little diamond that can't help but shine.

But come to think of it, I'm sure Kyouya-kun didn't actually plan for them to fall in love with each other. We all met each other in the first place because Miyori-senpai decided to help Hunny-senpai when he got kidnapped. The trip to the amusement park was only because Hunny-senpai and Rin-senpai met, and perhaps Kyouya-senpai did something to make Miyori-senpai and Mori-senpai have the same ride, but maybe he didn't. Maybe they just happened to pick out the same ride. Kyouya-kun surely could not have planned on Miyori-senpai getting sick and Mori-senpai going there because he bought her new shoes and eventually taking care of her. Even the house visits were Tamaki-kun's idea, and so was this summer that they had to spend among commoners.

If I really think about it, this whole ball and the very idea of it wouldn't have happened in the first place if Mori-senpai and Miyori-senpai hadn't fallen in love with each other. That was something they did all on their own. Or perhaps, as some would like to believe, this was destiny. This was something that was already written in the stars.

_A/N: Just one more chapter to go omg I can't believe this. I can't believe I'm finally finishing this aaaahhh!_

_Anyway, perhaps I may have given a little sneak peek for an upcoming sequel hihi but I'd rather not say anything about it yet. It won't be happening in the near future so for now, I'd like to take this chance to hype up the sequel next to this, A Pink and Black Summer (and again, I'd like to say that I came up with this title way before Blackpink even existed)._

_But before that, I still need to end this one nicely so wish me luck on that! ^_^_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: A Blue and Yellow Summer

(Miyori's POV)

-A few weeks later-

I spent the next few days after the ball recovering in the Morinozuka's infirmary. I usually don't like to be idle, but I actually appreciated the downtime. After the ball, I had a lot of things to process.

First of all, my opportunity to study at Ouran, and my new job as waitress for the Host Club waiting for me there. As Rin had said, it really wasn't as bad as Kyouya-kun made it sound. Ouran never seemed like an option for me before because not only would it bring me far away from my mom, but I would've had to work myself to the bone to afford it even if I was granted a scholarship, and I wouldn't have had any time to take care of my mom if that were the case.

But this whole thing had opened doors for me that I didn't even know were there. The application period was already over after I recovered, but Tamaki-kun had easily convinced his father to let me apply, and I even had my pick of either an academic scholarship or a sports scholarship. Ultimately, I chose sports, because as much as I liked being student council president and keeping my grades up, I had a real passion for track and field that nothing else could par. I took the admission test and surprisingly enough, I passed. Though I'm sure Kyouya-kun and Haruhi-chan's tutoring played a major role in that.

And I no longer have to worry about being unable to take care of Mom while I study at Ouran. Because apparently, being an elite's fiancée comes with huge perks. I mean, I've heard stories, but I didn't expect this to happen to me at all. Maybe it's because Mori-kun talked to his family about it, but apparently, just being unofficially (for now) engaged to him allowed me and my mother to live in one of the many properties in the Morinozuka residence.

Mori-kun had wanted us to live in one of the bigger houses, but I insisted that we get the smallest, simplest one (which, by the way, was already a whole palace compared to our house). All my friends helped me and my mom move here after graduation, which was a week ago. I even refused the offer at first, but Mori-kun finally convinced me by pointing out that the short distance from here to the college would let me take care of my mom better. Also, I guess it would've been bad for the Morinozuka's image if they let the next heir's fiancée continue to live in squalor.

And that's the biggest thing I still have trouble processing. I am Mori-kun's _fiancée. _It was enough of a shock for me to know that he felt the same way towards me, but then we even skipped dating and went right to being engaged. So you can imagine just how hard it is for me to take all of this in. Thankfully, I'm still safe from having to go to social events with the family because we have not yet officially declared our engagement to the public, and that's only because we're both still getting ready for college.

But once things settle down, we're going to have to meet the rest of the family and the general public. I'm gonna have to take more lessons from Tamaki-kun and Kazumi-chan, so that I don't bring shame to Mori-kun's family and mine. His immediate family was surprisingly nice and accommodating to me and my mom, but I know that outside of it, there will be disapproval and contempt towards us, especially towards me. I am still a commoner, and that didn't change overnight.

But like a bungee jumper bracing themselves for a fall they're willing to take, I will grit my teeth and rise up to this challenge. Besides, after all I've been through this summer and everything I've learned, I'm a much stronger person now. And I have the strength of those I love and by whom I am loved- my family, my friends, both old and new, and most of all, him.

Mori-kun (or will I have to call him Takashi eventually?). The newfound friend that I feel like I've known all my life. The guy who has only been kind to me and saw me in ways no one ever did. The man who is sparse with his words but whose emotions shine through in his actions and his eyes. The guy who saw me, really saw me, and decided to love me so much that he was willing to give up his own happiness for me. And the one I am willing to fight for with all my might and love with all my heart for the rest of my life.

No matter what this whole new future will bring, I am ready to face it, as long as it's with him.

(Mori's POV)

"See you tomorrow~!" my cousin chimed as he waved erratically at the Host Club, with Miyori doing the same beside him. I just gave them a nod and a subtle smile as the three of us walked out the all-too-familiar set of doors and headed home. College has just started for us a few weeks ago but it's nice to be able to visit them like this everyday, and seeing as Miyori won't be able to work off her debt in another year or so, we might still be coming over until the only members we know are Haruhi and the twins.

Being able to watch Miyori work is just another perk to this whole situation, and it's not just because of how attractive she looks in the frilly maid costume that Renge made for her. I genuinely like watching her just being so good at her job and with people. We have announced our engagement very recently, and it's been kind of fun watching Miyori try to dodge questions that guests would ask about me and her.

I always felt a little giddy (an emotion I never even knew I was capable of) whenever I saw her blush and turn pleadingly at me to save her. Miyori is great at entertaining guests until one of them pops an intimate question about us and she is suddenly a flustered mess. Of course, in important social events, I'd always swoop in to save her, but in the Host Club, it's just fun to watch.

We walked home after Miyori changed out of her maid costume and was wearing the clothes she wore to class today. The three of us took different courses because both Mitsukuni and Miyori didn't want me to just follow them around. They both wanted me to do what I want to do for once, and this was for my future, so with reasoning like that, I had no choice but to relent. But we still had a few classes together, and though I've used my experiences from this summer in establishing ties with new people and made a few new friends, it was still nice to be around familiar people, especially with those that I love.

Mitsukuni bid us goodbye as he headed another way to a new cake shop he wanted to check out, probably enjoying the freedom that he insisted for himself once we started college. I took Miyori's hand in mine as we walked the path to our homes. The fact that we're engaged still feels so new, but it's a good kind of new.

Just as I expected, Miyori easily blended in to our world. Not just because of Tamaki and Kazumi's lessons, but her own character and charm. Sometimes I would even question whether she ever was a commoner because she handled being an elite as naturally as breathing. Furthermore, after watching her fight with my father, our men automatically respected her. Father is even considering having her teach women and children in our dojo once she's shown significant improvement.

Her mother is also getting stronger and stronger each day, the chemotherapy's effects slowly wearing off, and she and my family surprisingly get along well. I think she and my mother even started some kind of book club. Of course, there is still disapproval here and there, so being engaged to a commoner hasn't been completely easy. But being engaged to Miyori is worth it.

At first, it was a little hard for me to forgive Kyouya for causing Miyori to get chucked into this world just because he wanted more revenue and he wanted to win. But now, I can see that Miyori is getting more benefit from this than he is. She's got a brighter future ahead of her without having to compromising being with her mother, all while doing something she's passionate about. Through her performance in the ball that Kyouya helped orchestrate, she was able to prove herself worthy of being my fiancée. I had thought that this world would snuff out the ray of sunshine that she is, but she's flourishing here, shining brighter than the sun that shines on her fiery red hair.

Even I benefited so much more than him from this, because it gave me Miyori. The girl that made me feel emotions I never even knew existed. The girl who showed me what I'm capable of. The woman who brings out the best in me, and with whom I feel I belong with. The woman who feels like home whenever I look at her. And the only one I want to spend my whole life loving.

As I took in the golden sunset that shone on us while Miyori talked about her day, I was taken back to this summer. The summer that I spent just like this, just being here beside her as the sun sank into the horizon. And there's no other place I'd rather be.

_A/N: And at last, I can finally say, THE END! Idk if my ending is satisfying enough bc this is literally my first time ever ending a multi-chapter literary work, but I really hoped everyone who's been reading this has enjoyed the experience as much as I had writing it! Tbh I'm gonna miss writing about these two, but at least this isn't the last we'll see of them. Next up is the sequel (should it even be called a sequel tho? idk) of this fic, this time centering on Hunny and Rin. So um, hope y'all look forward to that too! And wish me luck that I can write it (and not wait to finish it until 7 years later lmao)._

_Anyway, to everyone who has made it this far, and to everyone who has been with me in this incredible 7-year journey, thank you so so much! Hope to see you all again soon!_


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